May 4

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Is it right for you to be angry? Jonah 4:4

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🔊 Anger is a storm that rises to smash and destroy the things that stand in our path. It is essentially a sign of pride and selfishness. Downtrodden, suffering people become incredibly patient. They seem to have no anger because they have lost any sense of having rights. Such people become passive and listless. God does not intend us to be passive and listless, but neither does He intend us to be filled with the blinding anger that characterises so much of the affluent world. The Christian is to know a place of freedom from the storms that shake and destroy the inner life. We are to be carried by a greater passion, but one that heals and does not destroy. Love is the wave that is to carry us to meet life’s trials. Love does not notice obstacles in the path of our self-realisation. Love notices others. It sees other people. It takes note of their burdens, their needs, and reacts with careless disregard to self, and a joy in helping others. We are carried either on a storm of frustration or on a wave of love. Self-realisation may seem an attractive goal, but it is a rotten fruit, and brings no joy. Only in laying down our will and loving others can we find true joy. This is the Spirit of Jesus that is to fill our hearts and impassion our minds.