ICS Daily Devotions
Break Free From Anger Through Forgiveness
Anger is a natural and valid emotion. The Bible says, “In your anger do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Anger is not necessarily a sin, but the question is how we deal with it. We can so easily be carrying a load in our lives due to unforgiveness and be a slave to anger without realizing it. Forgiveness is like the antidote to anger. Until we learn how to truly forgive, we will never break free from anger.
Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”. If we hold back on forgiveness, then we do not actually understand what Jesus had done on the cross. Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt of our sins, and we are nothing without forgiveness. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We too, can choose to forgive because Christ lives in us! When we choose to follow His way and forgive those who have hurt us, the faith we show unleashes God’s power.
Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a choice, in fact, a difficult one, but one that can be made with the power of the Holy Spirit who is in us. If you wait until you feel like forgiving, you will be trapped forever because you will never feel like it.
Forgiveness feels like you are letting the person who hurt you off the hook and perhaps brings forth a sense that the act of letting the hurt go is unjust. But remember, you are not the judge, God is the Judge. When you forgive, you take yourself off the hook and releasing yourself from the bondage of anger. When you forgive, you are also releasing the other person. You are saying that you will no longer hold the past event against that person. You are letting them off your hook, but not God’s, as they are still accountable to Him.
Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. You will still have a memory, but what you will discover is that the sting of the memory is gone. When something triggers that memory, you will find that there is no longer any anger or shame associated with it. You’re free! And you are now free to react to that memory and whatever triggers it in healthy, positive ways.
Choose to forgive. Look to Jesus on how He had forgiven us. We too, can forgive as the Lord forgave us.
Sermon Series: Anger
