Holiness
Defining Holiness – Part V

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-25

Key Verse: Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

I hope you realize by now that defining Biblical holiness is not a simple, one sentence truth. But it is essential to understand it when the Bible tells us that no one will see the Lord without holiness.

One of the areas that give Christ-followers the most trouble is controlling their emotions when someone or something upsets them. The Bible tells us to be careful when we are angry because it is easy to sin during these moments: “in your anger do not sin…” (Ephesians 4:26a).

Anger is a high-intensity negative emotion that drains your energy. It would be great if we can find ways to avoid or redirect negative emotional energy for more productive use.

If we were at a round-table discussion about how to stop anger from draining us, someone might suggest that we do our best to avoid people who make us angry. That sounds good, but let’s be real… we cannot avoid them all. We might work with them, or we might live with them.

Someone else might suggest techniques to try and control the way others act around us. Again, sounds good but the truth is we cannot control the way people talk or act around us.

People often use a common excuse: “they made me angry”. If we buy into this excuse of blaming others for our anger, then we are saying “that person has control over me, I’ll act right if they treat me right”. I doubt that this situation is what you want for your life.

As Christ-followers we must rely on the Biblical answer for this dilemma, that is allowing the power of Christ to give our minds the power over our emotions.

Remember, anger is an emotion. Anger is not the problem; it is not sinful to feel emotional. The challenge is acting in a positive or productive way when you naturally act in a negative or unproductive way.

If that seems like an impossible challenge, stay with me in the next few days. I will give Biblical steps to our victory over anger.

Father, my spirit does not want to sin when I am angry, but I need Your strength to overcome the temptations of the flesh. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.