Some people move through this life as if they were chained to a heavy weight.  The name of that weight is anger.  Anger will hold you back from being the person God meant you to be.

In the Bible we meet Esau, the older brother of Jacob.  Esau was an angry man.  He was angry because of the cruel things his brother did to him.  Esau learned two lessons that helped him move past anger.

First, Esau learned to see his brother as he was, not as he imagined him to be.  When we hold on to anger for weeks or months or years, the anger takes on a life of its own.  It distorts our view of reality.  It makes the people who wronged us into monsters.  It is easier to let go of anger when we deal with reality, and not the world of our imagination.

Second, Esau learned that he had enough for himself.   Sometimes anger can lead us to measure our lives by comparing ourselves with the person who wronged us.  We want to do better than them.  We want them to do worse than us.  It is easier to let go of anger when we stop seeing our life as a competition and accept life as a gift.

The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God.  It also tells us that God gets angry, but God does not stay angry.  It is not a sin to get angry.  It may be a sin to hold on to anger indefinitely, and it will certainly hold us back.  Be like Esau.  Grow past your anger so you can grow into the person God made you to be.