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Our new identities in Christ come with several changes, including how we deal with anger and forgiveness. We are not to hold onto our anger, as that only hurts ourselves. Instead, we should make the choice to forgive. Forgiveness does not equal forgetfulness, rather, it is acknowledging that wrong was done and choosing not to dwell or take vengeance. It is more akin to a set of actions or a discipline than a feeling.
Love is the essence of being a Christian. We, as humans, naturally get angry, keep records of wrongs, are impatient, and envy. But through love, hope, and faith God can transform us.
Sampson's life, despite being an miraculous work of God, is one characterized by disobedience and pride against God, as seen with his marriage choice, his dealings with his parents and how he interacts with those persecuting Israel. However, God demonstrates His power in spite of Sampson's pride to bring about God's own purposes for the nation of Israel. This demonstrates God's ability to powerfully use and love even those who are arrogant.
Forgiveness is the supernatural ability to not punish or to not withhold love from someone who has hurt us. Our capacity to genuinely forgive others from the heart will make or break our spiritual lives. If we choose not to forgive, we will live a life of bitterness and be ineffective in our witness for Christ. By the grace of God, it is possible to develop a lifestyle of forgiving others which is a tangible way of loving one another.\r\n
To really grow in our relationship with God, we must forgive. God calls on all of us to forgive. He desires for us to learn this in community. A barrier to forgiveness is unaddressed anger. We must take our anger to God and not allow bitterness and resentment to build up in our hearts.
Cain and Abel offer sacrifices to God, but they are received with different reactions. Abel's was looked on with favor by God, but Cain's was not. Cain's sacrifice represented a ritualistic approach to relating with God, while Abel's was based on faith. Cain allowed his emotional state of bitterness and jealousy affect his behavior, and he murdered his brother. Cain exemplifies a fallen man putting himself at the center, resulting in conflict with God and others.
Jesus went up to Jerusalem and was angry to find the temple being used to exploit people and make money. Jesus called for a radical elimination of formalism, including sacred space. Beginning a relationship with Christ means leaving behind impersonal formalism, outward ritualism, superstition, and sacred space. Jesus is the real temple of God.\r\n
There are many different types of conflict that we enter in life, generally God wants us to resolve conflict in a position of humility and doing what's best for the other party. We have been forgiven much by God, so we should be able to forgive most offenses against us. Conflicts can be opportunities to share God's love to a watching world.
Have you ever gone through a difficult time and wondered why God isn't comforting you? The truth is that God loves us enough to bring us into situations that go beyond our own strength so that we abandon self-dependence and discover more deeply what it means to trust in him. We can't control how much we suffer, but we can look to God's comfort in Paul's life and see how we can respond to God during suffering.