Grace is free, but blessing is earned.
There are things we can do to increase our blessing that we overlook. Sometimes we sin or make mistakes, and God's grace sweeps under the rug; then there are also the sins that lead to death. However, there are things we have to do if we want blessing and favor. For example, we can't expect God to bless us if we don't bless others, or build us up if we tear others down. We can't expect blessing if we aren't grateful. We must press through and persevere if we want blessing.
Today we're going to look at something can block blessing in your life.
If we are going to be blessed we must be masters at anger management, what the Bible calls self-control. Anger leads into traps and snares, proves us as fools, and blocks blessing. Proverbs 15:18 — we want to be peacekeepers who calm strife. Proverbs 19:19 — carrying anger on our sleeves will bring a penalty, not blessing.
This is a natural law—if we are angry people, we give birth to many other evils. Anger is blinding and impetuous. Proverbs 22:24 — if we hang around hot-tempered people, we will get anxious and knotted up and on-edge and trapped. Anger rubs off, unlike many other sins. As humans, we just can't handle it. Proverbs 29:22, 11, Proverbs 30:33, Ecclesiastes 7:9. This is a deep heart-issue. God will not bless anger.
Our God is "slow to anger." That is a profound insight. Jesus called himself meek, meaning slow to anger. He is in control of self. If we are angry, it's because of us, not another person. What about "righteous anger"? This is prompted by injustice etc., but most likely it is still about us. We can be angry, but we are still not to let the sun go down on it, lest we give the devil a foothold. Letting anger abide in us, righteous or not, is unacceptable. We can't handle it. We are not to have any revenge, that is God's. Anger isn't ours to deal with, we are to be meek and humble. Expressing anger is all about justifying ourselves, letting the world know how we feel. We are growing to be like Christ, and this means getting rid of anger.
We see gross acts of violence committed by people all over the world. These are people who never learned to control their anger.
At the root, it is our expectations of how others should treat us. When we're angry, we should ask what it was we were expecting, and was that expectation justified? Anger is our servant, not our master. It is an alarm, letting us know that we were holding onto an unjustified expectation. If someone slanders you and you're angry, then you're expecting to deserve praise. Shouldn't you expect to be slandered and spoken evil of if we do good things and bear Christ's name?
Our expectations are the root of much wrath, but if we are expecting persecution, anger is cut off at the root. When people let you down and disappoint you, alter expectations and expect that they will disappoint and fail you. As a parent, never blow up when your kids fail, and you'll be super impressed and grateful when they do it right. Then you can encourage them and they'll do it more. We carry around very unrealistic expectations, and even some realistic expectations. It is realistic that we should be able to step outside without being gunned down by a serial killer, but it could happen; we aren't promised that it won't.
Another root is our rights. When we feel our personality and place has been violated, we're thinking more highly of ourselves than we should and have set ourselves up for anger. Jesus had every right to be respected, to be praised, to be held in high esteem, to be served and given credit as the Son of God. But he never claimed his rights. He was humbled so low and never said a word. It was through his humility that he conquered sin and saved us. He was angry once, that the house of the Lord was a den of thieves, but he didn't hate the people. He went and died for them. He cleaned up the house, not directing it at the people.
Some people say this is a wimpy, weak lifestyle. But the truth is that it takes far more strength to turn a cheek than throw a punch. If we want reward, if we want to be like Christ, we will control our spirits.
Think through the things that would make you angry and get to the root of this. Find out what expectations or rights are causing your anger. Anger is a warning that it's time to put something on the altar.
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