So Thursday in institute one of the guys made a comment that anger, fear and depression always come from the devil. I had to disagree but at the time could not articulate my thoughts so I thought I'd blog about it.
I believe the feelings of anger, fear and depression are God given ... it's how we act on those feelings that Satan tries to influence.
Christ himself felt Anger (and He's sinless so anger in itself can't be bad) What did He do with His anger? - He cleansed the temple of all that was impure i.e. the moneychangers. It's what we choose to do with the anger that can be unrighteous... do we forgive, or hold a grudge? do we make needed corrections (if we have that authority) or do we let it simmer?
Fear in itself is healthy ... it warns us of danger. I can see how he could think that maybe the fear of the unknown may come from Satan but again I think it's natural to fear that which we do not know, it's what we do with that fear (do we let it paralyze our actions or do we push past the fear) that can be influenced. Fear can also be a consequence of sin or lack of preparation i.e. doing the things we're suppose to... it says in the scripture if we are prepared we shall not fear, inversely if we are not prepared we shall fear ... fear what? the judgements of God, maybe? Again, we are suppose to be a God FEARING people, so fear in itself cannot be from Satan if to Fear God is a commandment.
Depression is one of two things: a chemical imbalance in the brain (which we have no control over so I will not discuss further except to say we can not judge a person because they're depressed) or the consequence of sin. So again it's what we choose to do with the feeling (to change wrong behavior or stay on the wrong path).
Satan has little influence on how and what we feel ... he does however have influence on how we act on our feelings if we let him. It's all about the power to choose.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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