Anger, Arrogance and Apathy

One of the most devastating tools of Satan is unresolved anger. By unresolved anger I mean anger that becomes sin and then is not dealt with. It occurs far too often in churches, at the workplace, and in marriages. An offense occurs; the offended party becomes angry; the offender makes no effort to make things right or may not even know an offense has occurred; the offended person stews and steams and, although they eventually calm down, the anger is still there and is not resolved.

What happens with a person who has unresolved anger inside them? Eventually, that unresolved anger will lead to an arrogance which says "I deserve better than that" or "That person owes me an apology" or "I'll forgive but I'm sure not gonna forget - he (she) better not do something like that to me again!"

And so the unresolved anger, let's call it by its other name "bitterness", causes the offended person to become arrogant. Arrogance is to bitterness what fertilizer is to a garden; it causes that root of bitterness to flourish and produce many sour fruits. The worst of those fruits is apathy.

Apathy says "I just don't care anymore". The offended person let anger or the root of bitterness grow; arrogance fertilized it; the poisonous fruit of apathy grew larger and larger; when fully ripe, it killed the very gardener who had nurtured it. How many churches are "dead' because of the poison fruit of apathy. How many marriages? How many families? How many souls?

Anger unresolved will always lead to arrogance unrestrained. Arrogance unrestrained will always lead to apathy unabated. Apathy unabated will always lead to death - death of a dream, death of a church, death of a marriage, death of a soul. It does not have to be so.

The solution to unresolved anger? The hymn writer William Walsham How said it well: "Bringing all my burdens, sorrow, sin, and care; at Thy feet I lay them, and I leave them there."

Are you struggling with unresolved anger? Has it led to the fuming thoughts of how you should be treated better or how that person should apologize? Have you reached the point of such apathy that you just don't even care any longer? It is not too late to lay those things at the feet of Christ and leave them there. May our good God give you grace to do so.