Read Psalm 130 & Matthew 5:20-26
Anger is a result of judgment. When Jesus’ anger was most on display, it was rooted in His righteous judgment against the sin He was confronting. He made a judgment and was acting out that righteous decree. However, we’re not Jesus. Our anger is typically unrighteous and a result of some self-serving, selfish judgment. When we get angry, we think something is wrong, something isn’t as it should be, or something isn’t as we want it to be. We have made a judgment against a person or a situation and respond angrily, wanting things to go our way.
However, Matthew 5:22 puts things in the proper perspective. Our anger, and therefore our judgment, is subject to the ultimate Judge. The Judge who judges justly in all that He does. The Judge who should He confront us with His full judgment, we could never stand against. An amazing distinction here is that this Judge doesn’t require physical evidence. He sees the hidden person of the heart. He sees the anger inside all of us and He knows why we’re angry. He knows whether it’s rooted in righteous zeal for God’s glory or unrighteous desire for our will to be done.
Enter Psalm 130. This psalm presents us with the heart of why, when we realize we’re angry with someone, we should immediately go and seek to reconcile that relationship: because the Lord is worthy of our hope! We don’t have to trust our judgments. We don’t have to trust our anger. We can trust the Lord who judges justly. And we can patiently wait for the Lord who grants forgiveness to those who trust in Christ instead of themselves. This understanding of forgiveness fuels our desire to be reconciled with our brother.
Take the forgiveness that’s been granted to you in Christ, leave your religiosity at the altar, and seek reconciliation with the one you’ve been angry with or who has been angry with you.
Josh Sugg