From Anger to Grace

Darren Hewer

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Please open your Bible and read Mark 3:1-6.

Ever been cut off in traffic? Had someone cut in front of you in line? Gotten a bad haircut? If so, you may have felt angry.

Jesus got angry too, but He only got angry about important stuff. His anger was righteous anger and directed against those whose minds were so jaded and hearts so hard that they would rather follow their own laws and let a man suffer than see him healed!

Our own anger usually isn’t so honorable. We often get angry about frivolous things while not getting angry about stuff that really matters. However, Jesus’ response to the Pharisees gives us a helpful principle that we can apply in our own lives to respond better any time we’re angry: Turn anger into grace.

“[Jesus] looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.” (Mark 3:5) Instead of lashing out at those who’d angered Him, Jesus turned His anger into a wonderful good deed. He turned His anger into an act of grace.

When we’re angry, we need to respond somehow. Bottling up our anger (or, for that matter, jealousy, or depression, or anxiety) will only lead to more inner turmoil. So from now on, let’s choose to respond in the way Jesus did: By following Jesus’ example of turning anger into grace and doing something good: “We love because God loved us first.” (1 John 4:19, CEV)

Anger, turned into good! And maybe, through this human act of grace, someone who doesn’t yet know Jesus “may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12) and by your act of grace come to know the greatest grace they’ll ever know: God’s grace.

Question: When do you get angry most often, and what opportunities are there in those situations to turn that anger into grace?

Darren Hewer

Darren Hewer did not grow up in the church but came to faith in Christ later in life at the age of 22. He earned his BA in Information Systems & Human Behavior at the University of Guelph, and his MTS in Theological Studies at Tyndale Seminary. Currently he works as an online editor for TruthMedia.

Visit his "faith blog" at www.WhyFaith.com ... and read his story of how he came to faith at www.WhyFaith.com/mystory ... also download his free ebook about why we should trust the Bible: The Historical Reliability of the New Testament.