Anger Management

Bible, Encouragement, Freedom, Fruit of the Spirit, Humor, Joy, Victory 2 Minutes

We’ve all been there. (Whether we admit it or not.) Someone cuts you off in traffic. Or you get stuck behind the person who thinks the speed limit is a friendly suggestion, as they proceed to drive 20 miles an hour below it.

Getting angry about it just ain’t worth it!

You see the news stories of someone getting shot for flipping off the angry driver. Or your blood pressure boils because you are stuck behind a slow poke. Life is too short to stress. If the angry driver is in that much a a hurry, let them go on. Maybe you’ll be fortunate enough to see them pulled over by a State Trooper further up the road. Or if you are stuck behind a slow poke, turn on some nice music on the radio and sing along.

Anger management is defined as the ability for a person to control his/her temperament, particularly in stressful situations; to show proper behavior and/or disagree appropriately without losing control of one’s emotions.

Depending on the situation, injecting humor can help diffuse the tension. So when I read this in John Ortberg’s book, Everybody’s normal till you get to know them, I knew I had to share it with you.

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, psychologists thought unexpressed anger was bad, and we needed to discharge those pent up emotions. “Blow of some steam.”“Get it off your chest” and “Let it all hang out” were common mottos. We were told we had to ventilate—throw something, hit something, or scream something. If we didn’t do this, we’d become like a volcano waiting for the river of rage to overflow.

We don’t think that way about other emotions. No one says, “I’ve been holding in joy all these years; people tell funny jokes, and I repress all my laughter; I haven’t released it and it’s been building up inside me. Now the joy dam is about to burst; I’m gonna spew joy all over everybody.”

Therapists don’t say, “You’ve got to get in touch with your gratitude; for years your parents helped you and sacrificed for you, yet your never learned to verbalize your thankfulness. Now you’ve got all this gratitude bottled up inside you, and it’s not healthy. You’re like a walking time bomb of gratitude. Someday you’re going to walk up to people you don’t even know and gush gratitude all over them.”

How often do you see this scene? One man feels he’s been cut off by another motorist. He pulls alongside the perpetrator, yelling, “What kind of idiot are you? What where you thinking? Were you trying to kill me?” The other person responds, “That’s a point well taken. You’ve touched me deeply. I’m going to change. I want to thank you for taking the time to offer me that hand gesture as well.” (Said no one EVER!)

Letting anger fly just creates more anger. We need to show some self control. (See Galatians 5:23) We need to treat others as we would want to be treated. (See Matthew 7:12)

Then we really will be able to spew joy and gush gratitude over everybody!

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Published by God Still Speaks

I am a follower of Jesus with an insatiable hunger for the Word of God! I am doing my best to be obedient in sharing what I learn with others, with my own unique spin, using the way God made me, linear with a twist!

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23 thoughts on “Anger Management”

  1. This post is solid gold on several levels! It’s true, whatever emotions we radiate, the tendency is to get more of the same. Anger expressed (improperly) only leads to more anger. We can at least be neutral—don’t react in kind to the mad motorist. I think it’s somewhere in the book of Proverbs: “A fool gives full vent to his anger.” I hope you have a blessed weekend on the ranch. Is tax season officially over?

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  2. Ooh a subject close to my heart…or is it blood pressure? 😳
    Generally I am a mild mannered, easy going guy (honestly!), but I do have a particularly short fuse for rudeness which makes my blood boil over. That person who doesn’t say “thank you” or who barges across my path nearly knocking me down feels the wrath. The good news is that as I age and mature more in my walk with God these moments are few and far between nowadays. I am definitely a work in progress!😁

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  4. I immediately thought of these two confirming verses. 😊

    Good sense makes one slow to anger,
    and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
    Proverbs 19:11 ESV

    The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
    so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
    Proverbs 17:14 ESV

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  5. I just spewed ventilation all over your inbox. It was a slow build up over several days. Today i had to let off steam! 😤🤯🤩🥰. Thank you sista, love you❣️🙏🏻✨

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  7. I’m not an angry person, but my journaling has revealed that I am not a patient person, which I think is closely related. This is one I have to work on. I just won’t get angry at myself in the process. 😉

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  8. Many years ago I was taught a great lesson about anger and impatience while on our commute home. We were all at a standstill for quite awhile, and it was “rush hour” to get home. We found out later that a little boy was hit on his bicycle and did not survive. I remember that…and when traffic is backed up, I say a prayer in case there is someone who was hurt.

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