Holding on to anger

Is it ever a good thing to hold on to anger? Does holding on to anger ever yield any positive outcomes? Certainly not! Anger is something that holds a person captive when you keep it within you. It forces you to act abnormally and even sometimes radically. There are so many instances in the Bible where people of God held on to things others had done to them that caused them to act opposite of what they would've done, had they not held on to their anger.

Take Moses for example; he was sent to deliver the people of God from Egypt and to take them to the promised land. In the process of delivering these same people who were suffering under the hands of Pharaoh. They began to complain when things didn't go as they hoped for. These complains kept on going on for some time that made Moses angry and fed up. Because of that, When God asked him to a do a simple task: to stretch forth his stick on the sea, out of anger, he hit the water with the stick. God forbid him to step onto the promised land because of that.

When we take a look at Cain, he also acted wrongly by killing his brother out of anger because the offering of his brother was accepted by God while his wasn't. God also cursed Cain for his actions towards his brother.

Even Jesus cursing the fig tree out of anger to never bear fruits again, because he expected the tree to have bore fruits at that time, but there was nothing. This curse caused the tree to wither immediately.

So as we can see, holding on to anger most likely yields negative outcomes and imprisons us as Christians. Now the Bible doesn't say we should get angry, because as humans, it's impossible not to do so. But what the Bible says is, that we shouldn't allow the sun to go down on our anger. Meaning, when we do get angry, we shouldn't allow it to last.

When we hold on to anger, we become slaves to those who have caused us to be angry and therefore we need to set ourselves free by letting go. Trust me, when we let go, we feel so much better about ourselves and plus we are much happier knowing that we have no anger towards anyone and that our prayers and petitions are not hindered.

Prayer Dear Lord, help me not to harbor anger within me. Help me to let go, even when I find it difficult to do so. This I ask in Jesus's name. Amen!

Reference Scriptures: James 1:19-20, Psalm 37:8-9.