Is Uncontrollable Anger Destroying You?

I am not what you would call an angry person. Yet, I will let my anger build up until I blow up on people that I love and care about if I am not careful. When I was born, I was so angry at my parents for taking me out of my blissful womb that I didn’t talk to them for 14 months. Now that is holding a grudge.

I do not enjoy conflict, so at a young age, I decided not to let anger take hold of me. I am now almost 40 years old, and I am still working on it daily. For me, it starts with reading many self-affirming verses. I know who I am in Christ, and I decide not to sweat the small stuff. Now let’s be clear, being angry is not a sin. It is what we do in anger that can be the problem. For example, yelling hurtful things at my wife because she made me angry is not the way to go. Jesus even got angry but never sinned. 

Through self-reflection, I recognized that a lot of the things that made me angry came from people who did not care about me. Why did I even care about what they thought? I’m now trying to base my anger on what Jesus thought about the situation — and that has worked best for me. Remember, it’s okay to be angry, just don’t sin in that anger.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the ability to decide what to do when I am angry. Please remind me every day that I do not have to sin in my anger and please bless me with wisdom and patience to deal with it. In Jesus name, amen.

Throughout the Day: Reflect on times when you’ve been angry. Try to remember why you were angry and if you based your anger according to the world’s standards or Jesus’ standards. Then, try to remember if you allowed your anger to let you sin. If you did, ask God for forgiveness and for self-control.