Do you ever get angry? I know that you do! 🙂 It could be a good sign.
What makes you angry? (or causes you to shake your head in irritated frustration?)
Anger is a normal emotion with a wide range of intensity, from mild irritation and frustration to hostile rage. It is a reaction to a perceived threat to some aspect of our identity or our self-image. (I surveyed the word ‘anger’ in Scripture and was surprised to discover that in the majority of usages, it was God who was angry! So don’t despair at your own anger.)
It is quite possible that you get angry because someone has violated what you have been designed to consider as very important. Your anger may be the expression of a ‘holy discontent. (or it could be the result of someone addressing something in which you have been wounded.) Holy discontent is the result of an inherent truth that God has creatively gifted you to defend and which being touched causes your emotional reaction.
Just ask or contemplate: “what do others do, or not do, that disappoints me?” You may be surprised how quickly your response comes. There is an underlying truth principle that motivates your anger. It is quite normal to read through the following list of irritations and identify with one in particular:
- People who compromise truth by not sticking to The Word.
- People who fail to demonstrate practical concern or assistance for others.
- People who substitute experience for traditional truth.
- People who are living mediocre lives and not growing to the capacity they were meant for.
- People who are diffident about trusting God for His provision.
- People who are not accomplishing any goals because they have no identified purpose.
- People who do not have genuine love for each other.
As you pick on one or two of the above you will also discover that the others may not affect you. That is because God has created you to respond according to one motivation, and has created others differently. That is why others get angry at things for which you see no cause for offense.
Why do you get angry? It’s probable that:
- You know there is truth that people have closed their mind to.
- Someone’s world view is too small to encompass the greatness of God.
- People are comfortable with their own life perspective, and your deep concern is ignored.
“Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Eph 4:26) As you determine and consider the cause of your anger, contemplate the other things in the list above for which you do not get angry. Realize that others have different concerns and that they are there to contribute balance to your own ‘holy discontent’. And don’t stay angry. Identify the truth that your anger stems from, and activate yourself in that truth by quickly confessing to, or confronting, the individual who violated you.
In doing so, you honour those that God has sent to you, and God will send you, those He honours. “Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary pray for their welfare, happiness, and protection; truly loving them. Know that to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing as heirs of God, bringing welfare and happiness and protection.” I Peter 3:9
May you be blessed with insight from your Father to see and say blessings on those who determine evil on you. … john
(original post Jan 18 2015)
