The Deceitfulness of Anger (Heb 3:13)

Tuesday 10.13.09

“Why do men kill?” That is the question my young son put to me one afternoon.  To be honest, my first thought was a hope that I could somehow shelter him from the graphic sins of the world.  Murder, abuse, rape, and the like are words I wish he’d never know.  Frankly, I wish they were words none of us would ever know.  But, we live in a sinful world, and so we seek somehow to make sense of it all.

I paused for a moment and then put a question back to him, “Well, have you ever been angry?”  “Yes,” he replied.  “Did your anger lead to hate,” I asked?  Again, “yes” was his admission.  “Then you were already on your way to killing,” I advised.

I went on to share with him that most likely, no one ever grows up with a life goal to kill.  It always happens slowly, and it happens because sin is deceitful.  Sin lies to you.  It tells you that you can control the inner sin (thoughts of it) and it will never go all the way to the action.  Sin promises that you can knock down only 1 domino, and leave the rest standing.  It might happen that way hundreds of times.  But then in a moment’s notice, the whole line of dominoes tumbles out of control.  And then you realize you were grossly misled.  Sin was, in fact, deceiving you.

So, that afternoon, I took the time with my son to obey the words of Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  Then, I shared this little formula:

• Anger leads to hate,
• Hate leads to harm,
• Harm leads to murder.

If anger is stewing in your life today, get rid of it.  It will not remain satisfied.  It will crave harm.  It will crave revenge.  It will crave hurt and  misfortune for the one with whom you are angry.  May you never be forced to speak the words of thousands before you who have said, “I never intended to kill.”

The only way to avoid the last step is to avoid the first.  And, the only way to avoid the first is to have your eyes fixed firmly on Jesus.  He alone will keep your heart soft towards what is good and right.  May your love and desire for Christ triumph over your love for anger and hate and revenge and murder.  In the strength of Christ, confess your anger and let love and patience rule your relationships.  I am exhorting you today, do not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin…instead be softened by the truth that Christ loved you and gave Himself for you (Gal 2:20).

I leave you with a thought from the great John Owen, “Sin is modest in its first motions and proposals, but having once got footing in the heart, it constantly makes good its ground, and presses on to some farther degrees in the same kind.  This new acting and pressing forward makes the soul take little notice of what an entrance to a falling off from God is already made” (Overcoming Sin and Temptation, p. 53).

Alive2Christ,

Kendall C.