Tip of My Iceberg

photo courtesy of David Garrison on Pexels

I lost my temper the other day.

This is not unusual, though I’m an adaptable person, going with the flow rather than expressing my anger in an outward way. I’m also a passionate person who sees a principle, a truth, being ignored and will respond with a heightened use of words full of exasperation.

I get ticked.

We were watching the news–doesn’t everyone get angry with what’s happening in the world?–and I focused on the mistreatment of certain people just because of their background, how they’d been raised and what they’d been taught to believe. Because of a single fact, people went all bad on another group of individuals.

It happens all the time, and most people at some point do it–they find it impossible to hold the tension between good and bad, refusing to see that not every situation or person is one or the other. Most everyone has the ability to make good choices and still do bad things on occasion. Henry Cloud, author and psychologist, calls it the character development of the good/bad split.

In our current culture, restraint is a tough character quality to develop. People want to express the deep emotions they feel about what’s happening to them or around them. If we’ve been hurt, it makes sense to hurt back. The principle of reciprocal justice. In the Bible, the Old Testament law, this was seen as appropriate. Hammurabi, who ruled the Babylonian Empire in the eighth century BC, also had this code of justice that he wanted to to make sure his people understood–he had 282 laws that centered on justice. They seemed harsh in their punishments, but he sought a code of laws for his people that would help them live in peace with one another, even though he didn’t see all people as being equal.

“But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury; a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.” Exodus 21:23-25

When Jesus came to the world, He taught the concept of grace and mercy–not getting what we deserve but receiving better because of Jesus’ love for us. But this wasn’t new; God spoke this truth to the Israelites who had just left Egypt.

“GOD, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient–so much love, so deeply true–loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.” Exodus 34:6

Jesus taught the practical application of this. It calls for great restraint on our part, a heart to forgive, and seeing people with the love of Jesus. It’s because of Jesus’ character that He can forgive, and He asks us to forgive others as He has forgiven us.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13.

Anger is part of life, for our hearts long for justice and our response to injustice is often to strike out in a way that seeks to absolve the hurt we or others feel. When we do wrong things, we yearn for forgiveness. Too often people just see the bad we do and ignore the good that is in us. Which is where the hurt enters in.

Hurting people hurt people.

But God in His glorious restraint has offered us what we can never deserve or achieve on our own–grace and forgiveness in Jesus. What Jesus offers is a way of living that helps us deal with the harsh emotions of our own pain so we may lean into the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

It would probably be a good idea to not watch any news. But the better way is to see what’s happening around the world and have empathy for those who are hurting and who need forgiveness.

In Jesus, I can be a conduit of forgiveness rather than a megaphone of malice.