Anger is not always hot and explosive; there are those whose anger is manifested in coldness. I know someone whose reaction when angry is to cease talking to the one who has angered him; he becomes resentful and his anger is manifested in what is known as the ‘cold shoulder’. Resentment is a festering sore, anger in the deep freeze, so to speak. The Bible tells us that bitter roots cause trouble and defile many people (Heb 12:15). Job commented that ‘resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.’ (Job 5:2)

Resentment is defined as ‘a bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly.’ We can’t necessarily stop unfair treatment. What we can do, however, is control our response to it. We can choose to let go of resentment because ultimately we trust God to right wrongs and sort things out on our behalf. Joseph is a classic example of someone who could have lived in resentment at the way he had been treated: his brothers envied him and sold him into slavery; he was imprisoned unjustly and forgotten about by those he had helped. Yet instead of holding on to resentment, he chose to trust God to bring about restoration, which God did in His own time.

When we let go of resentment, we allow God to mould our hearts into trustful obedience.

Most of our anger is connected to ourselves. James warns us that ‘human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.’ (James 1:19) It is right to be angry on behalf of the oppressed, to fight for justice and fairness and to oppose injustice and corruption, but more often than not, our anger is fuelled by a sense of personal hurt and damage. We lash out at others because we feel threatened or humiliated and we blow up because we are personally wounded.

This kind of anger damages us (often causing physical illnesses) and others (who may feel they cannot be honest with us because they fear our explosive reactions.) It wrecks relationships and leaves people at odds with each other. Paul warns us not to sin when we are angry and gives us good advice: ‘Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.’ (Eph 4:26) Letting go of anger is important; seeking reconciliation with those we have hurt is also important.

Many people feel their anger is justified and therefore want to hold on to it. It gives them a sense of importance and a feeling of righteousness. There is, however, greater freedom in letting go of anger and learning the better way of love.

Silhouette of bird flying and broken chains at beautiful mountain sunset background

One of the most important lessons we can learn is that we are valuable and important to God (we are made in His image and He sent His only Son to save us), but we are not the centre of the universe. That place belongs to God alone. We need to eschew a false sense of self-importance which puts us at the centre of life in order to allow God to have first place.

The ability to laugh at oneself and not take oneself too seriously is hugely important in learning to eschew a wrong sense of self. So much of our lives is spent worrying about things and fretting about how others see us, how we will get on in life and how we will manage. When we realise how much God loves us, we are freed from the need to be in control, the need to manipulate and the need to be number one.

Over this Lenten period, we will be looking at things we should eschew and things we should embrace. To eschew means to abstain from something, to deliberately avoid doing something. To embrace means to hold something close, to accept something enthusiastically. There are always two sides to a life of faith: things we must let go of in order to receive God’s good gifts. Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.’ (Mark 8:34-35)

It’s hard for us to accept this teaching, for it cuts at our selfishness and self-centred approach to life, but Jesus often spoke in radical terms: ‘if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.’ (Matt 18:9) We need to take our spiritual walk seriously and understand that there has to be a letting go of the old as well as an embracing of new attitudes. The writer to the Hebrews said, ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.’ (Heb 12:1) and goes on to urge us to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.’ (Heb 12:1-2) We need to both eschew and embrace if we are to grow spiritually.

Lent is the season before Easter, the 40 days preceding our celebration of Jesus’s death and resurrection. It’s traditionally a time of reflection and renunciation as we prepare our hearts for the greatest revelation of love and power the world has ever known.

Many focus on ‘giving up’ foods or bad habits for Lent. Any form of self-denial can be helpful to people who generally indulge themselves far too easily. It can be helpful to practise self-control in specific measurable ways. What is more challenging, however, is giving up these aspects of our character which are holding us back spiritually or learning to grow spiritual fruit which will last. We want more than the ‘quick fix’ of short-term renunciation; we are looking for long-term transformation (see 2 Cor 3:18).

Over these forty days, let’s take a good hard look at the kind of people God wants us to be and to seek to grow in grace and a knowledge of the Lord Jesus. (2 Pet 3:18)

J-P spoke tonight about life as a forest, looking at what we have inherited and what we pass on to the next generations. Deforestation is a big topic these days and we often think about the effects of cutting down trees on our environment and how trees are part of the chain of life. Adam and Eve started life in a garden which they failed to maintain because of their sin. We too need to think about how we are living and what kind of ‘forest’ we are passing on to our children.

Spiritually speaking, we may think about the forest we have inherited in different ways. We might feel our lives have trees of love, knowledge, wisdom, prayer, praise, forgiveness and protection and are grateful for the legacy handed down to us, but others may feel they have inherited only trees of shame, mistreatment and intolerance and have no good examples to follow. Josiah, one of the kings of Judah, did not have a good heritage in that his grandfather (Manasseh) was a murderer who led people into idolatry and his father (Amon) was also an idolater. Nonetheless, Josiah, from a young age, resolved to do what was right: ‘He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.‘ (2 Kings 22:2)

We may not have inherited a good ‘forest’, but we can break the chains of the past, for we can refuse to let our pasts define us and only be defined by our identity as God’s children. Josiah chose to follow the example of David rather than of his father or grandfather. He devoted himself to reforming his nation, tearing down the altars built to Baal and the Asherah poles and reforming the religious worship. We too can break free from the chains of the past, for we are no longer slaves to sin but are God’s children (Gal 4:7). We can choose to follow God’s example (see Eph 5:1) and can walk with Him in the silence of the forest, listening to HIs voice and enjoying fellowship with Him (as Adam did originally in the Garden of Eden.) If we do this, we can then follow God’s purposes for our lives and can plant trees of love, peace, knowledge and wisdom from which our children can learn. Our trees can be fed by the water of God and we can cultivate forests which will last for future generations.