Pastor Ibukun Awosika of The Fountain of Life Church (TFOLC) has explained that while anger is not a sin, how Christians manage the “God-given emotion” matters most.
She made the point while preaching during Sunday service on April 24th, 2022, at the TFOLC Headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.
“We can manage our anger by first restraining our anger, according to Proverbs 29:11,” she said.
Pastor Ibukun Awosika charged them to be mindful of the things they say when angry.
“We should decide to be a solution to problems that come our way. God will not come down to do it. When we restrain ourselves, we will be able to think out the solution to that problem,” she told the congregation.
The second way to manage anger, she said, is to re-evaluate the situation according to James 19:20, adding that believers run into risk every time they allow their anger to take over them.
“But when we pause and re-evaluate the situation, we will find that there is no need to cause harm,” she said.
Pastor Ibukun Awosika also encouraged Christians to be quick to hear but slow to speak or act. She challenged them to be mindful of their words and also learn to free themselves from rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.
According to her, anger is a signal that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. She also explained that the challenge people usually have is that, often, they rarely find out the cause of the anger.
The business tycoon and coach said anger is the manifestation of root feelings like frustration, hurt, annoyance, guilt, jealousy, impatience, embarrassment, grief, and powerlessness.
Pastor Ibukun Awosika explained that in these situations, there is always a choice in how an individual responds to it. She, however, said there are moments to be angry with righteous anger. The cleric defined righteous anger as being angry when you see God’s name or work being trampled on.
The 59-year-old author cited some instances of righteous anger in the Bible. Some of these include John 2:13-17 when Jesus was angry because His Father’s house was defiled. Other instances are found in Mark 3:5 and Matthew 23:33.
While referencing Numbers 14:18, the clergywoman also stated that even though believers do things that irritate God, He is slow to anger.
“If God should visit us according to our ways, none of us will still be standing. God abounds in love and mercy. He does not judge us. Therefore, we are not to take negative actions when we’re angry,” she said.
The clergywoman reminded the worshippers that they are made in the image and likeness of God, hence their aspirations should be to be Godlike – to be merciful and kind to others.
