letting anger go

Injustice as in God's righteous standard not being lived up to is part and parcel in this life. Of course we need to see God's righteous standard now in light of Jesus and the coming of God's kingdom in him, and the vision of shalom that this brings.

James informs us that we're to be slow to anger because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Human anger takes one aspect of reality, and our judgment of it, and makes it the all determining factor, when grace must be wed to truth so that we emphasize grace with the realization that we ourselves don't hold the entire truth, or anything that's true in its entirety.

If we harbor resentment, this will result in anger, and anger at least holds us back from expressing the love and truth in Jesus that God desires. But it often makes itself known in subtle and not so subtle ways which can be injurious to everyone. And violate the Jesus Creed.

If we don't let anger go it will increase, like a pot of water being heated on a stove. The steam will escape some way. And God will step in and rebuke us when we fail in this way. We shouldn't get this far, though at times we will. We need to be sensitive to pick up and accept God's rebuke and repent. We need to turn it over to God and let our anger go.

It is best if we could work through something entirely with one who we believe has mistreated us. Sometimes that's possible, but often it is not. Of course it's not like we're squeaky clean in the whole thing, as I pointed out in the post yesterday. But no matter what, we must turn over our perceptions and thoughts and all that is inside of us to God. And humble ourselves before God and let ourselves be humbled in the eyes of others even when we think it's not just, knowing that they don't know the worst about us. In time we will find ourselves walking in and with Jesus by the Spirit, if we persist in this way.

Any thoughts on this?