Finding our way through the wilderness

Psalm 37:8

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
   do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Day Eight

Anger Management

  Anger is one of our most uncontrollable emotions. Anger can make us do things, say things, and act in ways that we would not normally do when we are of sound mind. So this makes the emotion that we call anger one of the enemy’s most useful weapons.

  We all get angry from time to time. We’re only lying to ourselves if we say that we don’t. However, it is the way that we choose to display our anger that separates us, believers, from a nonbeliever. We must be mindful of whose image we are displaying to the world through our actions. We are representatives of Christ, the One who was passionate, caring, and forgiving. If we are to follow His Greatest Commandment, to witness and win over souls, we must be mindful of this before we speak, act, or even react.

  Controlling our anger is not only for the benefit of others, but for our own wellbeing as well. Our scripture above tells us to refrain for anger and turn from wrath do not fret- it leads only to evil. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” The enemy is always looking for anyway to break us down while at the same time cause distinction between us and our Lord.

  As example have you ever been so mad or angry at someone or something that you envision things that made you cringe just by thinking about them? This is the enemy planting seeds inside of our heads that could cause us to do things that we will later regret. Notice that we said cause and not make, because remember the enemy does not have the power to make us do anything. However he can planted the seed and deceives us into thinking it is the right idea, because we are blinded by a powerful emotion like anger. We must not let ourselves become consume with anger, malice, nor rage for as the scripture says these things only lead to evil.

  The bible also notes that is impossible to please God if we are controlled by anger. James 1:19-20 says, “My dear brothers, take note of this: 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.

  So what can we do to control our anger? First we must pray and ask for God’s help because we will not be able to control it on our own. Then, we must stay in the Word. Constantly reading and studying God’s word brings us closer to Him, which in turns brings us closer to His will and separates us from our own will. Finally just like any great athlete, doctor, actor, or anyone that excels at their craft, we must practice then practice and then practice some more. We can practice by replacing a bad emotion, such as anger, with a good emotion. A couple of good ones that we can use are patience, kindness, forgiveness, happiness, and love. Replace any of these with anger will retrain our mind to value the positive and diminish the negative.

  More times than not anger only causes us self-affliction, we either let it out causes ourselves embarrassment or we let it fester until it consumes us and we become a shell of our former selves. Either way no good can come from anger. It can only put a roadblock in our path delaying our journey to our ultimate goal.

Please join us tomorrow as we continue our journey. Until then God Bless,

                           James Anthony Love