Anger: 12 Things You Should Know Part 4 - Martin Wiles

Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool. Ecclesiastes 7:9 NLT

Homework, projects, and tests tested my patience. And his lackadaisical attitude frustrated me.

Unlike my daughter, my son had no affection for school. “Dad, I need help with my homework” meant, “Will you do it for me?” Projects were no different. He wanted me to do most of the work while he got the credit. Helping him study for tests taxed me excessively.

Although perfectly capable of mastering the material, his desire and initiative were absent—keeping the knowledge from seeping in and frustrating me when he couldn’t produce the answers. The thought of helping him with school assignments caused the anger emotion to flare even before we began.

Anger can be a bothersome emotion, causing all types of issues and leading to all manner of reactions. Knowing some facts helps us deal with it in a healthy way.

Fact 10: Anger can and will consume. Being consumed by healthy emotions such as love and kindness is good. The type of anger that consumes is likely against someone who has wronged us. We haven’t taken revenge . . . but we want to. But not wanting to confront them or do anything illegal, we choose to stew over the hurt. We repress and get depressed. Instead of dividing our minds, anger controls them. We have trouble thinking of anything else except the hurt.

Fact 11: Anger saddens God. Sin always disappoints and saddens God. Sin ruined the pristine world He created and the lives of the first two people He formed when they chose to disobey Him. What could have been wasn’t. What will be won’t for thousands of years. Uncontrolled and wrongly expressed anger is sin. Sin prevents God from using us as He wants. With this type of anger, we can’t realize His perfect and freeing plan for our lives.

Fact 12: Anger excites Satan. Any sin will do for Satan—sinful anger included. If he can convince us to justify our sin and live in it, he wins—temporarily. He knows sin will thwart or at least interfere with God's plan. When we regard sin in our hearts, God will not hear us—and we won’t hear Him. Anytime Satan can keep us from advancing God’s kingdom, he gets excited.

How can you process feelings of anger in a healthy way that promotes good?

Father, when Satan seeks to incite my anger, we ask You to replace it with love, kindness, and understanding. 

Tweetable: Is anger controlling you? 

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