How to Handle Anger

Whatever stages our anger may have reached, we can take Biblical steps to release it to God in appropriate ways and then experience His peace in spite of circumstances.
Our hope is that as you do this short Bible study you will be healed.

INTRODUCTION

Of all our emotions, anger is perhaps the rawest, strongest, and potentially the most destructive. While the Scriptures tell us that not all anger is sin. “Be angry, and yet do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26), it is not surprising that anger is mentioned as the precursor of sin throughout the Scriptures.

Before Cain murdered Abel, what emotion preceded the act? (Genesis 4:3-7)

Proverbs 29:22 and 30:33 tell us anger leads to what conditions?

Is there any danger in befriending those who are easily angered? Can you think of anyone you associate with who may fit that description? (Proverbs 22:24)

Unbridled anger is the source for much outward acts of violence and inward roots of bitterness. Whatever stages our anger may have reached, we can take biblical steps to release it to God and experience His peace.

Though we will struggle with angry feelings as long as we live, it is how we deal with that anger that determines its affect on us.

Jesus experienced anger and yet did not succumb to sin. We can share in His triumph for He lives within us to help us. We do not have to be helplessly swept up in the torrents of angry feelings. Our new relationship to Christ gives us hope and power to deal successfully with anger’s sudden attack and dispose of its lingering toxin.

Types of Anger

Just as all anger is not sin so all anger is not the same. There are various types of anger that we can identify.

One form of anger is rage. Rage is vicious, explosive anger that seeks to hurt others verbally or physically. It is very dangerous and stands at the most harmful end of the anger spectrum. It is open war on your circumstances or on the person toward whom you feel extreme anger.

Have you previously or do you now find yourself in the grip of rage?

Is this type of anger ever presented favorably in Scripture? (Luke 4:28-30; 2 Corinthians 12:10, Galatians 5:20)

The more common form of anger is resentment. It is inner turmoil that seethes and boils. It can be a response toward someone who wronged you or an unjust situation that hurt you or your loved ones. It can be as destructive as rage since the victim of resentment suppresses his resentment and suffers emotionally and/or physically.

Has resentment toward another gripped your emotions?

What will it do to you and others? (Hebrews 12::15)

While both rage and resentment are condemned in Scripture, another type of anger that we call righteous indignation is not presented in a sinful context. This is the kind of anger we feel when we witness certain forms of injustice and wicked acts.

Righteous indignation should motivate us to become positively involved by our love for God and regard for His honor in opposing social or personal evils. However, we must be careful for even our good intentions can be sabotaged by Satan. God has not called you to solve all the social ailments and injustices of the world. You cannot take up everyone’s offense.

When Jesus scattered the peddlers at the temple, what form of anger was He expressing? Why was He upset? (Matthew 21:13-16)

According to 2 Corinthians 5:14, what is to be the controlling motive for our actions? Should that influence the way we express righteous indignation?

Effects of Anger

No one can force you to be angry or make you angry.
You make yourself angry.

Physical ailments. Anger can produce a host of physical problems ranging from ulcers to hypertension. If entertained on a sustained basis, anger can be very detrimental to your physical health.

Emotional ailments. Probably the most common companion of anger is depression. Depression is often anger turned inward. This combination is very destructive to our spiritual and emotional well-being.

Ruined relationships. Anger alienates even people who love us, particularly if it is a habitual response. It often leads to domestic violence, divorce, and children whose lives are scarred permanently.

Job loss or career detours. Anger at work is the shortest way to being let go there is.  Today more and more employers are working toward emotional health at the workplace just because unbridaled anger has caused destruction, death and work stoppage.

Read 1 Samuel 20:24-33. Who was Saul angry at? Why? Did he check his rage? Did it affect his emotions?

Dealing with Anger

First, remember that not all anger is sinful or even bad. There are occasions when it is appropriate to express our feelings to one another. We can say something like “Bill, I am upset about this problem. Can we talk about it?” Often our anger can be resolved through clear-headed communication and loving confrontation. Sometimes that is not possible. In such cases, we should realize that our anger, if allowed to brew, can spill over into sinful actions or harmful emotions. We never have a biblical excuse for becoming combative or overly aggressive.

Secondly, remember we war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in high places. This shows us it is not always people we should consider when we are angry – but the source of the problems, the misunderstandings, the confusion – Satan and his demons.

Read Acts 15:36-40. Do you think Paul was angry with Mark? Does the passage say Paul sinned? Did they resolve the conflict in an appropriate manner?

Steps to Freedom from Unbridled Anger

YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS because the LORD gives you power to do so through His Holy Spirit.

1. Acknowledge your anger to yourself and God.

It is impossible to hide your anger form an omniscient God, and it is equally hard to fool yourself. Have you been honest with God and yourself regarding your anger, or have you tried to hide it under a layer of superficial Christianity?

Read Psalm 139:1-6. Can you hide anything from God? Why not?

2. Tell God that you are angry at _______________ (Identify the source.)

Open the channel of communication with your heavenly Father who will not condemn you for your feelings. Identifying your source of anger will keep you from hurting others who are innocent. Perhaps you are angry at someone at work and take it out on your family. Do they deserve such treatment?

3.  Choose to respond to it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Once you have pinpointed the source of your anger, no one can make you angry.  You make yourself angry.  This is a crucial principal to realize.  You can control your emotions if you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the supernatural presence of God who gives you His power of self-control. There is no excuse for out-of-control anger when the God who controls the heaven and earth lives within you to make you like Himself.

This is perhaps the most critical point in dealing with anger. You may have struggled with it for a lifetime. You may struggle with it only occasionally, but you do struggle with it. However, now that you are a Christian, a transformation has occurred.

4.  Begin to earnestly pray for the ones whom you were formerly angry with. Believe that they were ignorant of the potential of hurt, offense or harm.  Believe that if they could have eaten their words, changed their behavior, or taken it all back – they would have.  Address any anger that you may believe righteous anger toward their enemy and yours – the devil.

According to Galatians 2:20, what happened to your former way of living? Whose life now resides in you?

What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 say about you?

What does Romans 6:6 tell you about enslavement to sin?

Romans 6:4 says, you were buried with Christ so that you may do what?

Read Colossians 3:5-10. What are some of the characteristics of the old man that was crucified with Christ? Is anger part of the old man?

According to Colossians 1:27 what is the new man?

What does Ephesians 4:22-24 tell you to do with the old man and the new man who you are in Christ?

Galatians 5:19-21 describes the behavior of the old man before salvation. Who is at work in you now to produce the godly behavior described in Galatians 5:22-23?

What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? (Galatians 5:24-26)

Will the Holy Spirit help you with your anger? (John 14:16; Acts 1:8)

Deal with your anger quickly through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come to God in prayer and ask for His supernatural help. Specifically ask that the fruit of self-control produced by the Holy Spirit will be cultivated in your life.

Ephesians 4:31 tells us to put away anger and wrath. What is the primary way we do that according to Ephesians 4:32?

Right now choose to forgive the person who has angered you.

Lord, I choose to forgive _______________________________who I have held anger against.

If that is your choice, stick by it. You are to forgive others because Christ forgives you. You cannot do it in your own power, but Christ is in you to help you forgive those whose actions have led to sinful expressions of anger.

If you are angry with God, you must address this also. These are real feelings, and you need to examine them.

Humbly ask God to forgive you (He will) and receive the embrace of His love. He can use whatever circumstances that made you angry with Him in a positive way if you trust Him and submit to Him. Rebellion and anger only hurt you, not God. Ask Him to reveal the circumstances in your life that gave you the grounds to feel anger toward Him and ask Him to deliver, heal and comfort you.

The Father’s Heart

God wants you to experience an abundant life. Suppressed anger or ongoing rage and resentment is a spiritual barrier reef erected against the love of God. People or circumstances may have hurt you, but you can respond in forgiveness through your new life in Christ. You are not a victim of your circumstances but a victor through Jesus Christ.

Father, thank You for loving me even when I choose anger. I realize that cultivated anger damages my relationship with You and keeps me spiritually ill at ease. Thank You that I can forgive those who I have allowed to hurt me and cope with those situations that stimulate anger through Your calm, indwelling Spirit. I am a new creature in Christ. I am not a slave of anger. Christ controls me, and I yield my anger to Him. Refresh me with Your love and help to walk by the Spirit each day under His stable influence.

Lord, help me to be angry and sin not, by directing that feeling of anger toward the perpetrator of the hurt or damage. Help me to yield to the Spirit of Intercession and do spiritual warfare for that one. I will align with You and hate what You hate and love whom You love. I acknowledge that You love the one/s that I chose to be angry with, just like you love me. I acknowledge that being angry with them only damages me. So, Lord I will yield to Your Spirit and do warfare for them, blessing those who have despitefully used me, blessing them and not rendering evil for evil. I choose rather to render good (warfare prayer) for evil (recognizing the other person is one of those who You addressed when You said “Father, forgive them.”

Additional scriptures to help you conquer anger by the power of God’s word.

Proverbs 10: 12, Proverbs 15:1, James 1:19-20, Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 29:8, Psalm 37:8,
1Timothy 2:8, Proverbs 16:32, 1 John 2:9-11, Philippians 4:8

God Bless you and keep you as you seek to be transformed by the power of God.