The Problem with Anger

"Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger."
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

These are both verses from Ephesians. All of us struggle with anger. Whether we hold it in or let it out, all of us get angry every once in awhile. Most of us don't realize it but anger is very powerful. Why? Because while we're angry, we tend to be insensitive and hurtful. 

Anger is a reaction. We usually don't start our day feeling angry. Instead, someone does something bad to us or something doesn't go our way and we get angry. It comes naturally. We can handle it the right way or the wrong way.

Not all anger is a sin. Jesus got angry at sin. I'll get angry at the cruelty and unfairness of this world and my own sin. That's okay as long as my angry doesn't influence me in the wrong way.

I think we often make the mistake of blaming someone else for our actions. Let's say my friend hurt me deeply and I get angry. The anger is just. Because I'm angry though, I yell at my friend and say something mean to my mom. I'll use the excuse that my friend hurt me and I was mad.

That doesn't work. Yes, my friend did hurt me and I had a right to get mad. However, no one forced me to yell at my friend or talk rudely to my mom. It was my choice to respond that way. Have you did something similar? It's easy to get mad, yell, and then blame it on the person who made you angry The thing we often don't realize is that it was our decision to deal with our anger like that, no matter what caused it.

Anger not only can hurt the people around us, but ultimately, it hurt us as well. It drains the happiness and joy that we could have if we weren't so angry. It's okay to be mad for a little awhile, but we have to realize that our anger isn't going to help anything. You can waste so much time being angry, even if it's just; only to find out that it didn't benefit anyone, including you.

How do you get rid of anger? Remember the grace that Jesus gives you through his blood. Remember that all your sins were paid for on the cross so we could have peace, not anger. remember that God is no longer angry with us so we should we be angry?

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8