About Christianity

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

i guess, this is the verse every christian would know, and a verse that even some of the non-christians would know.

literally, we can get what it means. not to be angry anymore by the end of the day, and in our anger do not do 'bad' things.

the usual explanation given for that, other than the fact that we might actually sin, was that if we remained angry with a person, or perhaps even hated a person, we would not be able to move forward, but get entangled in this mess of wrath that we are not supposed to be. we are supposed to be people who showed love to all, not to be so angry that we are unable to forgive others.

don't get me wrong. i am not saying that we cannot be angry. all humans would have experienced anger. all humans would have some wrong done to them, and would have done some wrong to others, be it intentional or unintentional. well, there has to be a time limit.

of course, as usual, it is easy to say that. but in the end, the standard argument goes that if we don't get out of that mess of anger and hatred, we are unable to move on and focus on the things that truly matters to us.

but then, i realized, that there is also another reason why we have to do that. i realized it only today. well, i supposed there are a lot of others who realized it much earlier than me, or perhaps i realized it long ago too. just that today, this idea got driven deep into my head.

that, for those whom we are angry with, or even hated, perhaps, things are not the way we actually perceived it to be.

i have read in stories, and experienced in real life, that sometimes, the very people we were angry with, or if we put it to the extreme, hated, were the very people who did what they did for us.

for this, let's put aside the method they used to accomplish something. every human acts differently, and every human has different personalities and characters. but sometimes, situation 'forces' them to do what they did. that is not to say their every action is to be justified.

i mentioned 2 times before, if anyone actually read every single of my blog posts, that i defined a hero as not simply someone who gave up a lot, perhaps even his or her own life for a glorious purpose or someone. i admit, these are acts that required a lot of sacrifice, and i respect them for the determination and resolution they have in order to protect or to achieve something. note: i do not approve of terrorism. i define a hero as someone who would willingly give up a lot, to protect or to achieve something (let us just pretend terrorism and all the bad deeds in this world doesn't exist) noble, even if it means the very people whom he wants to protect hate him.

to have the people you protected and helped hated you, yet still continued on until the purpose is achieved. to me, that is a hero.

leave room for God's wrath. we are not to take revenge. remember the verse?

why?

because in our anger we do foolish things. in revenge we lose the humanity and compassion we have. and lastly, in anger and revenge, we might end up hurting more those who actually might be on our side. i don't think there is anything else more painful than the fact that those you truly treasure enough to give up so much for ended up hating and being angry with you, to the point of taking revenge on you.

sometimes humans are honest, yet some are dishonest, to themselves. that for something they did for you, in order for you not to get burdened, they said it was for themselves or for other reasons. there are people who are easily misunderstood, because of the way they talk and carry themselves.

some of the acts we witnessed might really be unacceptable. yet, sometimes if we think about it, were they neccessary? perhaps not. but given the same situation, and the same resources given to us, what would we have done? would we have done it any differently?

God tells us not to take revenge, because we do not know the hearts of others. we may think that we know, but do we really know? do we really know and understand the full situation of what actually happened?

for example, i read it in a news article before, that not all terrorists died for their ideals. some of them, were too poor to feed their own family. to the extent that they had to sign up to 'die'. because if they completed their mission, their family would have received money and then would be able to survive.

supposed the parents did not want the little kids to know that for their sake, their father had died in the process of killing others, because it would be too much for the kids. yet the kids knew that their father was a terrorist, and found the act unacceptable. maybe they would be angry, or even hate their father. but, should it be this way? i admit, terrorism is unacceptable. but, given the same situation and the same resources, would you have done it any differently?

the above is just an example. i am sure you would have known many others.

sometimes we are really angry. and we hate someone for the things they done. but in the end, can we really say that we know and understand the whole situation, as well as a person's intention? so, if you can, forgive the person who made you angry, who hurt you. not only can you move forward, you might actually have avoided the slim chance of hurting the person who was on your side.

God knows the heart of all. let Him be the one who decides what to do. we are only humans. we have our part to play. and in our list of duties, judging others is definitely not anywhere among the sheet of responsibilities that we were given.