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Key Bible Verse: Passion for your house burns within me, so those who insult you are also insulting me (Psalm 69:9). Bonus Reading: John 2:13–17

My faith journey has been shaped by my struggle with anger. On the one hand, my anger has often seemed out of proportion for the occasion that gave rise to it. It's more often distressed those I love and who love me than it has afflicted those at whom I am angry.

But on the other hand, my anger hasn't carried me far enough toward changing what legitimately enrages me. In fact, the anger often saps the conviction. Our advertising and arts convey the idea that we as a society are brash, irreverent, and free of all constraint, when the available evidence suggests that we're in fact tame, spayed, and easily brought to heel.

I resist the idea that anger has no rightful place in the life of a Christian. When we encounter social and economic injustice, we either

remain ironically detached or cultivate an abrasive attitude that delivers some of the release, but packs none of the punch of well-aimed rage.

The Lord my God is a jealous and angry God, as well as a loving and merciful God. I'm unable to imagine one without the other. I'm unable to commit to any messiah who doesn't knock over tables.

—Garret Keizer in The Enigma of Anger

My Response: When have I seen a good example of controlled, directed anger?

Thought to Apply: Becoming angry is easy. But to be angry with the right person … at the right time, for the right purpose, in the right way isn't easy!—Aristotle

Adapted from The Enigma of Anger (Jossey-Bass, 2002) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, empower me to channel my emotions so that I'm a guided missile, not a loose cannon.

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