Anger...

So I know that everyone out there in the wired world wide web gets angry. Everyone gets angry, and sometimes we keep it inside and bottle it, sometimes we let it out with a tongue or swing. Sometimes we just get so MAD!

Anger can break communication and sever relationships, and it ruins both the physical and spiritual health of many. People tend to justify their anger, while others apologize and seek forgiveness for it.

In the New Testament, there are several words used most frequently to express anger.

• Thumos appears twenty times and means a turbulent commotion, boiling agitation of feeling, sudden explosion. It's like our word rage.
• Orge appears forty-five times and describes a long-lasting attitude that often continues to seek revenge, like our word resentment.

We are made in God's own image and he gets angry...why can't we? But he is GOD the father...who are we to compare ourselves? Since God is holy, we must understand His anger as his righteous response to human sin and rebellion. God is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7). He tells us we are to be slow to anger (James 1:19), to not let it settle in us. There are many biblical examples of why, with consequences. Let's look at a few.

1. Cain was angry at Abel...killed Abel
2. Moses was angry with thee Israelites...broke the tablets
3. Samson's first of many anger management issues...ruined a Philistine vineyard...
4. Absalom sought revenge for Tamar...his stepbrother he killed
5. Jonah and his prejudices...wanted God to smite the Ninavites
   

I could go on and on...but I will spare you. Inner anger can be explosive words ...actions. Resentment hangs out inside you. Both of these forms of anger can destroy our relationships, affect our personalities, and make us feel different about our own worth.

Anger and Helpful tips

Think Before You Speak

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires" (James 1:19).

1...2...3...10...

When you find yourself getting angry, check your stress to see what could be doing it?

Time out! Huddle and Pray

"Time-out" take time out to turn our minds toward God. We have to choose to give it all to Him, and to ask Him for peace of mind.

Suit Up

We need to suit up in our spiritual armour so that the trigger that brings anger from within us fails to leave a wound. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7)

Forgive

We have peace in our lives when we decide to forgive instead of holding grudges

Accept Your Circumstances From God—They May Not change

If you find that you are continually made angry by your situation, chances are you are waiting for God to do something. Maybe you're waiting for Him to make your life easier. He is more likely to change you—from the inside out—so that you are able to cope with the present situation. In the meantime, He will use that difficult situation—to mold you into what he wants you to be. I know its hard and seems a lot to take on. But, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:3-4)

New Testament words describing anger is adapted from Richard Walters, Anger (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981)