For the last couple of days, I have been in Florida and away from Carl. I spoke with my husband last night and he shared that Carl was totally out of sorts when he got home from work. It is very unusual for anyone to be away from the house for spans of ten hours or more and Carl doesn’t like it one bit!
Carl has demonstrated his feelings in the past when I have been gone by chewing up our furniture, shredding toilet paper, and peeing on the floor. His anger turned into poor decisions that caused my husband and I to become frustrated and disappointed with our four legged family member.
There is one passage in the Bible that I think about when I think about Jesus getting angry. In John, chapter 2, Jesus enters the temple and finds people selling sheep and pigeons. He becomes extremely disturbed by this and makes a whip of cords and drove all the people and the animals out of the temple.
So why was it okay for Jesus to express his feelings in such a forceful way? What are the differences in the motives behind Carl’s actions and what Jesus did?
Since Jesus never sinned, the anger stemmed from righteous motives. He loved His heavenly father and knew that the temple was where He dwelled and was reserved for worship. To see greedy men take advantage of this holy place caused Jesus to become justifiably irate.
I believe God is aware that we all get angry which makes me very thankful for this passage and how I can learn from Jesus. When this strong emotion purges my heart, I must look for the root of this feeling. Most of the time, I have to admit that my anger comes from selfish motives and like Carl, can produce decisions that I usually regret.
If I just focus on Jesus and see how my motives are rooted in sin, I can receive His strength to dull this emotion enough to think clearly about my actions. As for Carl, I am sure as he matures, he will make better decisions and leave the destructive behavior behind. But even if he doesn’t, I will remember Christ, and strive to love him as my Lord loves me.
