Raiva
A raiva é uma emoção humana que a Bíblia trata com seriedade. Irar-se não é pecado em si, mas a ira descontrolada destrói relacionamentos e abre porta para o mal.
Controlar a ira
A Bíblia nos exorta a ser tardios para irar-se. A resposta branda desvia o furor, e o que se controla é mais forte que um guerreiro.
Hearing and Doing
Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.
A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up.
If you stay calm, you are wise, but if you have a hot temper, you only show how stupid you are.
Stupid people express their anger openly, but sensible people are patient and hold it back.
When a fool is annoyed, he quickly lets it be known. Smart people will ignore an insult.
Irar-se sem pecar
Paulo ensina: irai-vos, mas não pequeis. Não deixe o sol se pôr sobre a vossa ira, para não dar lugar ao diabo.
If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Don’t give the Devil a chance.
Any fool can start arguments; the honorable thing is to stay out of them.
Arrogance causes nothing but trouble. It is wiser to ask for advice.
Amor e perdão acima da raiva
O amor cobre multidão de pecados. A Bíblia nos chama a não alimentar rancor, mas a perdoar e amar, vencendo a raiva com compaixão.
Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses.
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs;
"Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them.Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.
And he went on to say, "It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly— all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean."
My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God.
Unfaithful Israel
The Lord says, "If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he cannot take her back again. This would completely defile the land. But, Israel, you have had many lovers, and now you want to return to me! Look up at the hilltops. Is there any place where you have not acted like a prostitute? You waited for lovers along the roadside, as an Arab waits for victims in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution. That is why the rains were held back, and the spring showers did not come. You even look like a prostitute; you have no shame.
"And now you say to me, ‘You are my father, and you have loved me ever since I was a child. You won’t always be angry; you won’t be mad at me forever.’ Israel, that is what you said, but you did all the evil you could."
Israel and Judah Must Repent
When Josiah was king, the Lord said to me, "Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute. I thought that after she had done all this, she would surely return to me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it all. Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel’s unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute and was not at all ashamed. She defiled the land, and she committed adultery by worshiping stones and trees. And after all this, Judah, Israel’s unfaithful sister, only pretended to return to me; she was not sincere. I, the Lord, have spoken."
Then the Lord told me that, even though Israel had turned away from him, she had proved to be better than unfaithful Judah. He told me to go and say to Israel, "Unfaithful Israel, come back to me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever. Only admit that you are guilty and that you have rebelled against the Lord, your God. Confess that under every green tree you have given your love to foreign gods and that you have not obeyed my commands. I, the Lord, have spoken.
"Unfaithful people, come back; you belong to me. I will take one of you from each town and two from each clan, and I will bring you back to Mount Zion. I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding. Then when you have become numerous in that land, people will no longer talk about my Covenant Box. They will no longer think about it or remember it; they will not even need it, nor will they make another one. When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them. Israel will join with Judah, and together they will come from exile in the country in the north and will return to the land that I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession."
The Idolatry of God’s People
The Lord says,
"Israel, I wanted to accept you as my child
and give you a delightful land,
the most beautiful land in all the world.
I wanted you to call me father
and never again turn away from me.
But like an unfaithful wife,
you have not been faithful to me.
I, the Lord, have spoken."
A noise is heard on the hilltops:
it is the people of Israel crying and pleading
because they have lived sinful lives
and have forgotten the Lord their God.
Return, all of you who have turned away from the Lord;
he will heal you and make you faithful.
You say, "Yes, we are coming to the Lord because he is our God. We were not helped at all by our pagan worship on the hilltops. Help for Israel comes only from the Lord our God. But the worship of Baal, the god of shame, has made us lose flocks and herds, sons and daughters—everything that our ancestors have worked for since ancient times. We should lie down in shame and let our disgrace cover us. We and our ancestors have always sinned against the Lord our God; we have never obeyed his commands."
