Anger Issues! | Genesis 4:1-15, Psalm 51:1-2, 7-10 | Raising Cain

So, this week you and I are camping out on what the Bible has to say about anger, how we can avoid it, how we can evict it from our hearts. I don’t want my heart to be a hotel for anger. I want to make room in my heart for love and forgiveness. You know that those are the things that lead to peace, right? When we choose forgiveness, we are choosing God’s way. Today, we’re talking about Cain, a sad story but the Lord has takeaways for us. Let’s dive in.

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Transcription:

Oh, you are an angry elf. One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite Christmas movies, Elf. Hi. Welcome to the Bible for Busy People, otherwise known as Anger Management 101 this week. I’m Erica, your host, and I don’t want to be an angry elf, do you? Not at all. Right? So, this week you and I are camping out on what the Bible has to say about anger, how we can avoid it, how we can evict it from our hearts. I don’t want my heart to be a hotel for anger, do you? I want to make room in my heart for love and forgiveness. You know that those are the things that lead to peace, right? When we choose forgiveness, we are choosing God’s way, and he’s the one who made us, so he knows how our hearts work, right?

When you break your apple phone, where do you bring it? You bring it to the genius lab, right? Or the genius bar, whatever it’s called, and they know how those phones work and they fix it. God knows when we are heartsick, when our hearts have been broken by other people; when our hearts have been trampled on, he knows how to mend our hearts. He knows one of the remedies is forgiveness. Part of it is divine healing. The Bible says He heals the brokenhearted. That’s part of it too. But we can do our part. We can trust the Lord to deal with the things that make us feel angry. It’s a symptom usually of something else. For me, oftentimes it’s rejection. When I feel rejected, I get embarrassed and angry. What is it for you? Take a moment to put your finger on that. So many of us are walking around with emotional wounds. Nobody else can see it, but there is one who sees all. Jesus sees the emotional wounds that you don’t talk about, and he wants to heal them today. Okay? I didn’t expect to go down that road, but maybe you needed the detour, right? God works in mysterious ways.

Alright. Today we are going to meet Cain. He may be the first human being who ever had to take an anger management class. Just kidding there. But he got himself in a whole lot of trouble early on in this world. So, join me now in Genesis. Yep. The first book of the Bible, chapter four, verse one.

Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. 6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” 8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him. 9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” “I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!” 15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

This is so significant, and you might think, Erica, why are we studying such a story? It’s really kind of sad. Well, we’re studying this story for the same reason people study real money, so that they can recognize a counterfeit like that so easily. We have to study what real anger looks like so that you and I can know it when we see it, know it when we feel it, and banish it. And the other reason I chose this story is because you know what? God still showed Cain mercy even after he committed murder. You and I need mercy all the time, and that’s why I want to wrap up our time today with a few words from Psalm 51. This is the Psalm that David wrote after he sinned tremendously. He had blood on his hands. He had slept with another man’s wife. We’re all guilty, we’re all human, and we’re all loved by God, and he wants to give us his mercy. So pray with me and with David right now. Psalm 51, verse one,

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.

Verse seven, now.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Yes, Father, in Jesus’ name, amen. Until next time, God is merciful and you are really loved.

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