The Israelites wanted Jesus to rescue them from a corrupt government, but Jesus had a much bigger agenda.

Being able to extend grace and forgiveness to one another is a gift from God. When we empty ourselves of self-righteousness and anger, we can be filled with God’s peace and contentment.

The most often repeated teaching of Jesus is simply, “Love one another.” The difficulty lies in how we actually live out this teaching. Becoming unoffendable makes us more capable of following this primary teaching of Jesus.

Expressing outrage over an injustice is not the same as doing something to resolve the injustice. In fact, our outrage over injustice can be quite counterproductive if we actually desire to create justice.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that holding on to anger is bad for your physical health. What you may find surprising is the correlation between anger and a lack of trust in God.

We often find ourselves completely shocked, or even outraged, when humans act like … humans. However, when we embrace the truth about human nature, we are far less likely to allow the behaviors of others to surprise or enrage us.

Many of us Christians seem to believe that we are entitled to our anger, as long as it is “righteous anger.” But where does that belief come from? Is there anything recorded in the Bible that would lead us to believe that anger can be a good thing?

How have you wronged the person who wronged you? Can you identify your share of the blame pie?

You cannot force someone who has hurt you to join you in the pursuit of relational reconciliation. However, you can make certain that you have done everything in your power to make things right.

Some Christians believe that it is enough to simply forgive someone “in your heart.” Jesus challenges us to go beyond heart-level forgiveness and initiate actual reconciliation.