What makes you angry? Is your anger based on selfish reasons? Do you get angry when things do not go your way? Do you get angry when you feel someone has wronged a loved one? Is your anger based on God’s Word? Do you get upset when you see people disobeying?
Often anger is based on things not going the way we think they should. This is especially true as children. If a child does not get their way, they get angry. Those reasons for getting angry may carry over into adulthood. In fact, some people will never mature out of it.
As we experience the world, we learn that it is not always wise to get angry. We learn that it isn’t worth the negative impacts anger has on our health to be upset about every little thing that does not go our way. We slough off the little things, letting them go. But anger can be the genesis of grudges. Holding grudges also harms our mental well-being and holds us prisoner.
Jesus got angry. But His anger was not based on selfish reasons. His anger was a righteous anger aimed at those who turned the Temple into a marketplace. Though God required sacrifices prior to Jesus coming to earth, he did not intend for animals to be sold on the temple grounds for those sacrifices. The Temple was to be a place of worship, not a place of business.
Anger is an emotion we all must deal with. Yet, we can learn from Jesus. He set His priorities on the things of God. It was only when God’s commands were disobeyed that He got angry. He knew that anything else was temporary and had no lasting effect. He knew that God’s commands and desires for our life were the only things that had an eternal impact.
Our mental health can be much improved if we set our priorities the same as God. When we realize the things of this earth will not last but only the things of God, we can be far less affected by them. When God becomes our top priority, earthly things do not negatively impact us in the same way, thereby improving our mental health. This is spiritual health having a positive impact on our mental health.
I pray we all seek to have the attitude of Jesus. I pray we make God’s priorities our priorities. I pray each one of us will realize earthly things will go by the wayside and heavenly things will last forever. Make God’s priorities your priorities. Have the attitude of Jesus. Improve your mental health. Improve your spiritual health.
John 2:16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
Marty Pressey 