“Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die'” (2 Sam 12:5).

The movie “Inside Out” takes us inside the head of a little girl and personifying her emotions (joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust) in order to help us better understand how each of these emotions contribute to our personal well-being. Anger is a fiery little red guy who deeply cares for what is fair and just and true (within the context of his own subjective interpretation of the world). His fire represents the burst of energy inside of us that empowers us to set the world right when we are confronted with circumstances that appear to us to be unfair, untrue, unjust, etc. Admittedly, anger wants to fix things, but when he’s in control, he always makes things worse (James 1:20). All of us experience periods when we allow anger to take the steering wheel of our lives.

A tell-tale sign we are being controlled by anger is that we become far more bothered by the sins of others than by our own sins

(we actually become blinded to our own sins!). Danger alert! The gospel calls us to begin each day by looking in the mirror, and to allow God to deal with everything that is unfair, untrue, and unjust within us. Only then are we ready to deal with the sins of others, and we will do so through the power of God’s love and forgiveness towards us!

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You” (Ps 51:12-13).