For as long as I can remember I have had a lot of anger in my heart. This anger rarely spilled out in public – but it destroyed my first marriage. And because I generally kept a lid on it, this anger was turned inwards and resulted in a lot of depression over the years – a depression that resulted in two episodes of serious ill-health needing medicine.

To read Jesus saying that keeping a lid on anger won’t do in the Kingdom is, therefore, quite difficult. But this is what he does in Matthew 5:21-26 saying that while the law forbids murder, he calls for anger issues to be dealt with too. The coming Kingdom wants the heart sorted as well as the actions.

How good of Jesus to give us some indications of how we could spot anger in ourselves. Murder is obviously one obvious indicator – but so is calling someone a fool or disdaining someone. These words and actions are the overflow of the heart and can often be the over reactions that indicate a deeper problem.

It is such a blessing, therefore, that Jesus provides the grace for healing along with the radical call for transformation. I’ve experienced some of it myself in my own journey as past hurts are dealt with – for it is these hurts that cause so much of the anger in the first place.

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