Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Losing Your Temper Hulk-Style

Suggested Reading: Ephesians 4:20-32

When The Avengers first came out, one of the characters my son was most looking forward to seeing was the Hulk. At that point in time, everything he had ever seen about the Hulk had been from cartoons or the movies where he only really hurts people who were trying to hurt him. So when Hulk made his first appearance because Bruce Banner got angry my son got scared. If you have heard anything about the movie already you know that the Hulk ends up fighting really well for the good guys but the incident reminded me of Ephesians 4:26, which simply states, "Be angry and do not sin" (HCSB).

Anger is one of those emotions we often misunderstand. We often either think of it as something entirely negative or as something we have no control over. Neither one of these concepts is true. Anger can be an extremely positive force for good if we use it correctly. Jesus used his anger to drive cheats and swindlers out of the house of God. Martin Luther King Jr used his anger to lead the fight against injustice. Anger, if used appropriately, can be the difference between saving life or destroying it, between doing justice and letting evil prevail.

Anger can cloud our judgment and make us reckless, causing us to lash out at anyone in our path like the Hulk does when he made his first appearance in The Avengers. But anger can also be used to motivate us for good when we see injustice or evil and then temper it with intentional, clear thinking. Not all anger is bad, but all anger must be directed in a positive direction or it will eventually tear us apart.

What have you been angry about recently? How did you handle it? If you are angry for a good reason, direct your anger. Don't let your anger direct you.





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