Goliath Must Fall for Young ReadersSample

Day 5-Anger Must Fall

Anger isn’t necessarily wrong in and of itself. The Bible reveals that there is a time to be angry and a time to rightly express your anger (see James 1:19). Jesus even felt anger at times (see Mark 3:5). However, anger becomes a giant when it works its way into your life and simmers under the surface.

One way to know this is happening is if you feel angry about something that never happened. Maybe a friend made a joking comment that you took too seriously. Your anger was wrongly felt. Or perhaps you have a real reason to be angry, but you expressed it in the wrong ways. Or perhaps you have a good reason to be angry, but you pretend everything is ok. Not dealing with your anger hurts your heart; it hurts the people around you, and it can even hurt your health.

So, how do you overcome this giant called anger? The key to real change is to keep filling yourself up with faith, and continually link up with what Jesus is doing within you. We need to talk to ourselves like God talks to us—with love and grace. We need to tell ourselves Biblical truths. We need to align ourselves with God and follow His plans.  

It helps in this regard to remind yourself that you aren’t perfect. God forgave you, so you can forgive others. Remember the right way to deal with anger is to trust God and His justice. Paul spoke about this in Romans 12:14: “Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you.” And in verse 17, he said, “Never pay back evil with more evil.” Paul called for peace. Jesus calls for peace, and you should too.

In the end, taking down the giant of anger is really about letting go of control.  To be loved, to let go of the wrong things someone has done to us, and to let God put out the fire of anger sets us free—free to live our lives, to run our race, to grow into who God says we can be.