Anger and Rage

By Pastor R

This week we will be turning a major corner in the third chapter of Colossians, a series we are calling Living the Christian Life. We have been talking about the vices that characterized our former life and this week we are talking about the virtues that characterize our new life.

I hope you are beginning to implement what Brenda talked about in her introductory comments about Inductive Bible study. Your understanding of Colossians 3 will only increase when you ask What is the author’s intent? What are the commands in this passage? What does want me to obey? How can I apply this truth to my life?

I hope you are beginning to implement what Alec talked about in his introductory comments about looking up words in the text that are unfamiliar. I can almost hear his mother saying to him when he asked about a word Alec, look it up. You will begin to see the richness , beauty and depth of the text by looking it up.

Last week I spent some time camping out on two vices of the old life that God would like you to get rid of. Those vices are anger and rage. To get rid of something is a command. God is commanding you to some house cleaning and get rid of something that does not belong in your house; namely, anger and rage. It may be lying just below the surface like a toxic substance just under the sink and you may not be consciously aware of its presence in your life. It will take some work then to look beneath the sink and see what is lying in your soul. Whenever I have stilled my soul and invited the Holy Spirit to illuminate my true soul’s condition, He begins to show me where I am out of alignment.

I believe that many of us try to pretend we don’t have anger in our souls trying to put a lid on it. We either deny that we are angry or we try to justify our anger by saying I’m just a little miffed. F reedom comes when we admit the truth about ourselves to God, to ourselves and to safe others. We can feel bottled up and congested until we do so.

The two words that are used in the original to describe anger are orge and thumos. Orge describes the settled condition of the wounded heart that moves from being angry to seeking to get revenge. Thumos describes the kind of volcanic anger that is ready to explode. These words describe behavior that is consistent with a believers former life and not their new life in Christ.

This week we take a good look at the virtues that characterize a believer. You have heard I’m sure sermons on the virtuous woman. We will see what clothing should accompany the new life whether you are a man or a woman. Bring with you some woman or young woman this Mother’s Day who could use a good dose of encouragement about who she is and the life that flows out of who she is.