Appropriate Use for Anger

What makes you angry? Do you generally lose your temper when you are mad? Or cry? Or stuff your feelings away?
God can help you use the angry feelings for good.
What is an appropriate way to use anger?
1. Feel the anger. It is normal to feel a feeling. However, if you dwell  in the anger and allow resentment to build, that is when the feeling becomes harmful to yourself and others.
2. Do not feel guilty or bad about feeling angry. Instead, see it as a tool. Did you just have a very dramatic defensive reaction to a small issue? This is a clue to the root causes and by praying about it you can discover what is underneath it all.
3. Pray about what is making you angry. Ask God for the next step. There are many underlying emotions to anger: guilt, fear, pride, insecurity, rejection, loneliness, sadness, fear of failure, anxiety, depression, etc. Anger artificially helps us feel in control when we are actually out of control.

If you are angry because someone has attacked you emotionally, ask yourself, "Does this person's opinion matter more than what/who God says I am?" Does this person have the power to define who you are?

Consider changing the way you view strong emotions. Rather than a burden, see them as a clue to unraveling the path toward freedom in Christ. God wants you to lead a life not based on how you feel, but who you are and where He wants you to go!

Bringing Back Past Yuckies...

I just had someone say something really hurtful to me. Initially, I felt angry, but I knew this was a great opportunity to go deep with God.

Unfortunately, in life, people say critical things or damaging words. Remember your words have power.

However, when we have the mind of Christ we always have a choice of what we are going to do with those words.

Will you choose to repeat the words over and over? Perhaps you will call every friend to tell them of the hurtful comments (this is what I used to do). Will you choose to visualize the conversation in your head and hear the person saying the critical statements repetitively? Will you punish yourself by thinking you deserve the negativity?

Or will you choose to process the situation with God? God is the best counselor and listener ever.

So, I immediately went to God and asked him to help me unpack why I felt so angry about the statements made. Remember when you are defensive there is often an underlying issue or core belief that God wants to give you freedom from.

I realized that the negative comment hit an old belief that I had that I was unlovable. This, of course, is nonsense from the enemy. My Heavenly Father loves me more than I can comprehend.

Anyway, back to my situation. I then asked God if we needed to pray through this or if had already been taken care of. God let me know that this belief was done. I had freedom from it and no longer believed it, but this negative comment had brought a spark to this dead thought pattern.

Therefore, it is my choice to choose to believe and agree with what the person said or to simply tell the thought to leave in the name of Jesus.

I choose to forget it. That means I will not acknowledge the comment by repeating the story to friends; I will not say anything to the person who was hurtful to "teach them a lesson;" nor will I repeat the statement in my head.

In the name of Jesus, I command this yucky gobbledegook comment to leave my brain forever.

Praise be to God!