I don’t know if you’ve seen those signs. It’s usually some political season when they come out.

It has always struck me as odd. I really try to pay attention, but why would I want to be angry all the time?

Anger is an emotion and in certain states it is actually helpful. Anger happens and Paul’s admonition is to “be angry and yet not sin.” Deal with the emotion. There is a reason for it. Be on the alert and come to terms with what is going on as quickly as possible.

Where anger turns more ugly is when we don’t deal with it. There are times when anger arises in us and our response may be to will harm toward the one who offended us. Or, we want to respond in some other unkind way.

Where anger really turns ugly is when we choose to be angry. We receive anger and actively indulge in it.

Dallas Willard explains, “Anger indulged, instead of simply waved off, always has in it an element of self-righteousness and vanity. Find a person who has embraced anger, and you find a person with a wounded ego.”

When Jesus explains that anger is the same as murder, it’s a tough pill to swallow. When we treat people with words of contempt (calling them an “idiot” or a “jerk”) we are allowing anger to seize control. It is the mental equivalent of murder.

Living in the Kingdom is to live beyond the written law. It is so easy for us to say, “Well, I didn’t MURDER anyone!”

It is far more difficult to live out the Kingdom. What is living out the Kingdom in this case? Treasuring others. Have I treasured others and seen them as creatures of God’s Kingdom designed for his eternal purpose? The goal of transformation is beyond NOT thinking about hating someone. It is to treasure or value someone.

Jesus lays out some simple ideas. First, seek reconciliation. Leave the worship service if you have to. You don’t leave the worship service because you think, “I’m not worthy.” You leave the altar if you can go to that person and seek out reconciliation. The Kingdom heart is one that seeks out the better of the other.

Here is the tough part, though: We seek out what is Kingdom rightness in a situation and leave the results to God. We can do the right thing and still have a rift! We can know there is bitterness between two parties, one party goes to seek reconciliation, and the other party decides to stay offended. So be it. We do not control or manipulate outcomes. That is the power of the Kingdom of God.

Second, try to resolve issues before they reach a status of public fighting. Again, this is simply an illustration Jesus gives. It is not “new law.” Just try and make things right. It doesn’t always work. But our goal is to not be bitter within ourselves. We can’t control the other person.

We need lives that are truly different from the inside out. We work to treasure others, reconcile with people, and live to resolve issues. In all of it we are to live in joyous confidence in God regardless of what happens.

It beats being angry all the time.