Anger - Meekness

Meekness from Our Anger – What is Meekness ?
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth
Happy are the meek - They that hold all their passions and affections evenly balanced. They shall inherit the earth - They shall have all things really necessary for life and godliness. They shall enjoy whatever portion God hath given them here, and shall hereafter possess the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

A. Meekness is a habit of patient endurance under provocation. Meekness answers the question of how we deal with provocation? How do we handle agitation? How we handle confrontation?

1. The natural reaction to provocation, agitation, and confrontation is anger. We need to understand that anger is a basic human endowment. It is a passion or emotion directed toward on who inflicts a real or supposed wrong. Anger is aroused by a sensory perception plus an interpretation of the perception. It is not exclusively based on physical stimuli but it is a cultivated by our thoughts. Anger is fed by our perceptions; that is, why Proverbs 19:11 says good sense makes a man slow to anger and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Although it is our natural reaction to get angry when provoke- we must employ good sense and think before we react. Why? Because anger in and, by itself is not morally wrong. It’s what comes from that anger that determines its positive or negative impact. The purpose in anger may be redemptive or destructive. We have 3 misconceptions about anger

a) We tend to believe that all anger is sinful- not so, Scriptures agree with modern psychological studies affirming that anger, though having destructive potential also has positive and redemptive contributions to offer human relationships.
b) We believe that angry feelings are best managed by being camouflaged or ignored. No, the right acknowledgement and expression of anger assists in deepening and developing social relationships;
c) We believe that those angry feelings will eventually disappear if we ignore them. Unresolved or unexamined anger interferes with the effective exercise of relationships and produces confusion, misunderstanding, and alienation. Unresolved anger can produced:
(1) Depression- we internalized our feelings (swallow them) and get in return ulcers, diarrhea, headaches, etc.
(2) Physical and verbal outbursts- we ... become abusive emotionally and physically.
(a) Cain’s hostility against his brother Abel.
(b) Joseph’s brothers’ anger against him.
(c) Saul’s anger at the Christians.

(3) Can cause us to fear anger so we flinch, cry, or withdraw when others are on a rampage.

(4) We can become numb and alienated-Some have learned to anesthetized their feelings so much that they have learned how not to feel. Others have learned to withdraw themselves-they leave.




III. The problem is that many of us, have not learned how to used anger towards our good. There is good anger. Good anger is legitimate when the perception of the evil is accurate; when the excitation is proportionate to the evil, and when the impulse is directed toward correcting the ill.

A. This is where meekness comes in to play. We said that meekness is a habit of patient endurance under provocation. To take it further. Meekness means power under control. Power out of control can become hostility, violence, and destructiveness. (I.e. – hurricanes, tornados, floods, -power our of control.) Power in control is meekness. The root word of meekness was originally used to describe a horse or some other wild animal, which has been broken in and tamed to become useful to its owner. All of is once useable strengths and uncontrollable behavior are harnessed. Prior to being trained and tamed, their talents were useless and dangerous. Because many of us we have not learned how to harness our emotional anger for the work and service of God, we too tend be useless and dangerous.

1. (Mark 3:1-5) Jesus modeled how we should react with anger when provoked. His anger is harnessed to heal.

2. (Matthew 16:23) His anger is harness to rebuke.

3. (Matthew 23:13-30) his anger is harness to correct and reprove.

B. Just as there are situations and circumstances in our lives that causes us to mourn and weep out- there are situations that causes us to get angry. That anger should be used constructively.

1. Anger at diseases- harnessed – find cures.

2. Anger at injustices and social ills- make a change- get involved.

C. If harnessed, our anger, will become meekness and God will fulfill his promise to have us inherit the earth.