The Apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Ephesus, reminded them of a great truth to guide our interpersonal relationships. Paul said; “Be angry, and do not sin;” as he quoted from Psalm 4:4 (NKJV). We can conclude from these references in both the Old and New Testaments in the Bible that we are warned about keeping our anger in control. Notice the admission; we will have anger. There is not one who has ever lived that did not at some time express anger about something. Even the most even tempered person can find something disturbing them to the point of invoking anger to arise from inside. Jesus became angry when He saw the way His Father’s house was being used as a place of material trading rather than the expressed purpose of prayer.
Much can be known about a person when it is revealed what makes them angry. Some people, it seems, are angry all the time about everything. These types of people are never in a good mood. These folks live in constant stress and create much stress for any person who has to interact with them. Homes today are filled with rage and violence, it seems. There is a deep seated rage showing itself in the place where one should feel the most secure, and that is the home environment. Often, within the membership of churches the issue of rage, anger, and disagreements become major issues with which the congregation and ministerial staff have to deal. When a person looses control of self-discipline and becomes angry, they will many times say and do things exhibiting a different behavior than is seen as normal for the person. The unfortunate outcome of much anger today is seen in the abuse of persons or the murder of an individual who is entirely innocent.
Since the Bible admits anger is real and we are seeing much anger demonstrated in our culture, how can we deal with this issue? As we seek to determine what makes us angry, it would be good to know if we feel it necessary to strike out against any or all people with whom we come in contact when we are angry. If we have feelings of striking out in violence against others while we are angry, it is a sign that we need to seek help from a professional who can guide us to a place of self-control and self-discipline. Is it a simple matter of disagreement sending us over the edge or causing us to go into a rage? If that is found to be true, then we are in serious need of seeking help with our self-control issues.
I would suggest an inventory of ones life and emotions to determine what makes anger boil to the surface. Next, I know that prayer helps to calm the emotions of a person and can point a person in their anger to God’s Word to help bring a sense of calm to any situation. Seeking help from friends, who one trusts can also help to bring about recovery from fits of rage or anger. When there is a process of accountability when dealing with the issue of anger, there can be a plan of recovery set in place. If anger is an outcome of the use of drugs or alcohol, my suggestion is to leave those mind altering elements out of your life in order to learn the maturing steps toward self-control and to relief stress. If these suggested steps do not bring about a change in the anger cycle, professional help should be sought and a plan of action put into place that will bring about success in learning to deal with anger.
We must admit that all of us become angry at times, but it is in the way we express that anger and what happens as we begin to act it out as a result of the anger that is important. Paul knew what he was talking about when he said, “Be angry and do not sin,” because he also had moments of expressing his anger when he saw behavior that was not an honor to God.
Ray Newman
Column first appeared in Pastor’s Pen in The Paper of Braselton, Chateau Élan and Hoschton, Georgia
