29. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - How you Affect Others - A Must Read

We are busy discussing the following passage: You have heard that it was said to people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And again, anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21 and 22).

Why would Jesus have compared anger, insults, and criticism with murder? Isn't it a little radical? Let's look at what happens if you kill someone physically. You take away someone who brought value to the world and to other people, even if they did not appear valuable in the eyes of some. 

But we know that people don't really fall dead under an anger attack, so what do you kill when you act in anger? Before we can answer this question, we first need to look at what happens when one acts in anger. You would have experienced it a few times yourself - violent actions, accusations, insults, humiliation, sarcasm, silent stupors, ignoring others, criticism, etc. All of us have been on the giving side, haven't we? 

But we have been on the receiving side as well. How does that feel? We have feelings of rejection, anxiety, distrust, fear, heartache and sadness, despondency, and the like, don't we? What happens when this kind of anger is vented on you for a prolonged period? Certain things inside you die. When you are constantly criticised or not trusted your confidence dies, leaving you feeling insecure. Violent actions kill your feelings of security, and fear and anxiety is the result. Sarcasm, humiliation, accusations, and insults are verbal forms of violence, which cause the same death in you than the abovementioned does.

Slowly your confidence, creativity, and initiative die and you become as a living dead, having lost most of the value the Lord intended for you to have to a world around you for His name's sake.

When you are on the giving side of anger outbursts, insults, and criticism, I have just described your victim. You have killed a valuable instrument in God's hands and will answer to the Lord for doing it.

The Lord instructed us to build one another up in love (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and in our anger not to sin (Ephesians 4:26). In other words, we should use the self-control the Holy Spirit makes available to us (Galatians 5:22-23) to control our feelings of anger. When anger stirs up in you, why don't you excuse yourself and ask the Lord to make His power perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and to give you a way out of that temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

If you're hotheaded, prone to anger, insults, or being critical in any way, why not start your day preparing prayerfully to have self-control during the day? This you do by calling on the abovementioned promises of the Lord ahead of time, so when the attack comes, you'll be ready. 

Naturally, there is no reviving power like apologising immediately and making right lovingly. 

Furthermore, victims should be careful of assisting the murder to their souls by sulking and pondering about it, giving Satan occasion to play havoc with their thoughts and emotions and worsening the whole situation. God is your helper and people are God's instruments in the process. There is no need for you to stay dead, in other words down in the dumps, willingly. The Lord invited you: "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me," (Psalm 50:15). Proclaim God's Word and get out of it! Jesus does raise people from the 'dead' all the time. 

When the person who vented the anger (the killer) repented and attempted to make right what s/he has caused through angry behaviour, you should especially receive the apology and forgive. However, I know it's often a repeated offence because the culprit actually struggles with controlling anger. As long as s/he is upright in the attempt to change, being graceful and forgiving to them and praying for them will help them along their way to having peace and towards change. Remember you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13) and you are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)!

Then there is the issue of calling curses. How often do we call people stupid, or a fool, or sometimes even something less appropriate, especially towards other races and in traffic? When we proclaim anything over a person, we either bless them or curse them depending on whether it's uplifting or degrading. When we proclaim something positive, i.e. a blessing, God has the mandate to activate the blessing and when we proclaim something negative, i.e. a curse, we give Satan the mandate to activate the curse over them, i.e. make it happen or increase. 

Many people do this daily in their cars, during social gatherings, and in their homes, and then we ask why there is such an increase in inappropriate behaviour in for example certain drivers in traffic and in violence. Every time we call the curses, i.e. tell the spirit world how bad we would like these people to be, Satan uses the opportunity to instigate them to worse behaviour.  To be frank I believe these curses from the supposedly good people contribute to the increase in wickedness (Matthew 24:12). We have more power than we think and need to learn to manage it in a godly way. This is why James was so adamant about the control we should exercise over the tongue (James 3:1-12) and why Jesus addressed the issue so sternly here.

Dear friends, let's be careful in controlling anger and watching the tongue. It has lots of power. If all Christians decide to only proclaim blessings and to never curse, we will see a different world. 

Let's pray like David did in Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." To be continued.

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