Anger and Frustration
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
- Romans 3:21-26 ESV
The following Old Lazy Dog blog stems from excerpts from a letter that I once sent to a friend that sometimes struggles with frustration/anger issues... just like I do... just like many of us do:
It's always hard to keep our emotions in check when we feel like we or, worst yet, those closest to us (our kids or spouse) have been wronged.
Deep lying anger is tough. It can be buried to the point where we think we have it conquered or at least under control. But it's kind of like an onion. The emotion is buried just below the onion’s surface - sometimes deeper than other times. So when something finally peels the onion skin back, that exposed emotion is raw and smells, even to the point of tears - like an onion... raw like an exposed nerve.
The cool thing is that God is bigger than the emotion and our ability to control it. And in our moments of weakness and when we fall, He is there to pick us up and dust us off and get us back in the race (like any loving father would).
Even though we are Christians and strive to live the life Christ would have us live, we still are Human and thus not Perfect. Most times it is in the moments that we fall or fail that the world around us can see Christ in us - in how we are forgiven, in how we respond to that fall, to how we get back in the game.
As ex-athletes, it's even harder for us to turn off the emotion or keep it in check. Our competitive juices fire up and we're ready for battle. That's how we were made and trained. The problem is, now we have no real release for that emotion or energy, and thus it sits and churns under the skin just wanting to be released.
As Believers, we also know about how grace and forgiveness work... how Jesus died on the cross to forgive us, and show us grace and mercy. The hard part is for us to get to the point in our walk where we give grace and forgiveness to those who we feel have wronged us, to those who are like us - sinners saved by grace.
And, we have to get to the point where we can forgive ourselves... Like Jesus has forgiven us.
The bottom line is this, you are just like the rest of us, and that's what we love about you.
Get back in the game.
Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem
“… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
- Romans 3:23-25 ESV
