Is it wise to “Just Get Over it”?

Probing Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. 

When you “Turn the other cheek” we see that:

First – You are showing a maturity in your character.

Second, you avoid the path of having a conflict with a person that has now lost their temper, which can be very dangerous. Notice “deflects anger” which means the person you are dealing with has strong emotions going on. Emotions are very important and can be used by the Lord to enable us to accomplish many good things! Yet, when emotions are not controlled some very bad results can happen. 

Anger is not evil of itself. Being angry about wrongs in society or sin in your life will energize good works to bring about change. But we must use our mind to control those emotions, if we fail and those emotions control us, we can become a tool of the enemy! Scripture states it best: Be angry...but don’t sin...don’t hold on to your anger! 

Ephesians 4:25–27 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

“Just get over it!”, “Let it go!”, “Snap out of it!”, “Pull yourself together!”, “Get a grip!”, “Just move on!” - These and other short statements are wrongly applied to this verse. 

Why do I say that? Scripture never exhorts us to ignore issues, pretend they are not there or through shear willpower refuse to allow them to affect us!  All that accomplishes is to leave those issues buried under the surface waiting to explode when the adversary can succeed in moving us to lose control of ourselves. So much damage in the Body of Christ, and marriages, has happened due to this mistake.  

So what does it mean? First…RELAX! Nothing is missed by God. No one…including me…will get away with anything! God sees it. 

Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Process! Spend time working through your emotions. What caused you to be angry? Why? What are you doing about it? Do you need to confront? Do you need to confess? Are you willing to forgive those that have offended you, the way Christ forgave you? 

The so what?: What about you? Who hurt you last? How hard was that to remember? If it was easy, what does that say about you? Who was the last person you asked to forgive you? What does that say about you? How often do you confess sin to God? Weekly? Daily? Immediately after knowing you sinned? What does that say about you?