The Bigger View. Anger is about the immediate gratification of our own desires. Anger says, "I am the biggest thing that matters at this moment." Anger focuses on the moment that we are in. Anger does not think of others, eternity, or God. Anger fails to see the big picture, but rather it focuses on the temporary. Anger seeks to make ourselves the central focal point of the picture. Anger deceives, destroys, and disappoints. In Romans 13:11-14 Paul shouts into our self-center

Be Aware. As we discover the reality, the depth, and the breadth of the anger of our hearts, we must be cautious. Knowledge is not power when it comes to anger. The more knowledge we have about anger does not translate to more control over anger. In fact, Paul warns us that knowledge alone leads to pride (1 Cor. 8:1). This does not mean that ignorance is the key to victory over anger either. Anger is rooted in pride, so the antithesis is humility to begin to root our anger. I

Signs of Growth. We can rejoice that God is at work in us and that He will continue His work in His children until it is complete at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Change seems slow and sometimes hopeless. We must trust what God says rather than what we feel or see. Keep our eyes on Him and know that He is at work in us. Often we look for monumental shifts over short periods of time, but this is not the typical work that God does. Abraham is a great example. God w

Neighbors. Growing up, our neighbors were our friends. We fished, hunted, played baseball and football, argued, fought, and did a few things that we hoped that none of our parents ever discovered. Neighbors look out for each other. We share fences and concerns for our community safety. We borrow sugar, flour, or butter. We heartily great one another and occasionally have deeper conversations. Our neighbors in our city do not look like us or even think like us, but there is a

What are we Aiming for? In Romans 1:21-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:5-9; and Titus 3:3 Paul lists numerous sins. He seems to classify both sexual sins and sins of anger. It is no surprise that where we find one classification of these sins, we typically find the other classification (sexual sins and anger sins tend to go hand-in-hand). The desire, "I WANT" is the adhesive joining these sins. The flesh is bent towards sexual immorality. What God sa

Blame Sharing. We are all aware of blame-shifting. We have done it by blaming our spouses, bosses, co-workers, etc. We have all had it done to us by the same people. It is most evident as we watch children interact with one another and listen to them blame each other for the fights, disagreements, stinginess, etc. However, there is another take on blame-shifting that Welch calls blame-sharing. Blame-sharing feels more sophisticated, but it is simply a repackaging of blaming o

God is the Judge. We will be treated unjustly. Our anger is usually a response to an actual wrong, but what is more important is how we react to that wrong. We may lodge a complaint, have a personal conversation with an individual, or deal with the desires or sins of our own heart. Regardless of our course of action, God, the Judge, will handle all offenses and He will act rightly and justly. 1 Peter 2:21-23 records the unjust suffering that Jesus endured. It also records tha

Why can't everyone be like me? Underlying our anger is pride. It is pride that our way of doing things, our expectations, our responses, our standards, etc. are the best. In order to be patient with others and not respond in anger we must acknowledge two things to be true: 1) We desire an easy and problem-free life. When this desire is thwarted, we likely will pounce in anger on those who we believe are keeping us from experiencing our desire. 2) People are not the same as we

God's Anger Emptied Out. The outpouring of our sinful wrath on others and others pouring their sinful wrath upon us is always wrong and undeserved. However, God's wrath being poured out upon us is always right and always deserved. As we read through the Old Testament we see the evidence of God's wrath being poured out upon Israel as well as other nations. It is always deserved, but it is never fully expressed. We likely struggle understanding how God could do such a thing, bu

Unlimited Patience. Ed Welch gets to the heart quickly today. He states, "If you want to know what you really think about the Lord, watch how you live." If your anger persists unchecked, you hold the Lord in contempt. If your anger is fueled by fear or shame, you don't believe that He could love you and you have to fend for yourself. If your anger veers off into hopelessness, you believe that His standards are impossibly high and you will never please Him. The apostle Paul ad

Be Quick to Listen. James 1:19 is often referenced when addressing anger. The idea typically involves being quick to listen before responding in anger. The implication is that we ought to listen to the other person first before losing our temper. However, the context is not a focus on listening to other people (there are verses that speak about listening to others before answering), but it is a focus on listening to the Word of God. By extension, Jesus is the Word, so we are

Justified Anger. We convince ourselves that we have the "right" to be angry and our position of "rightness" demands that we must be angry. We live in a day where "rights" have dominated our culture and our churches. Think of anger as our own "peaceful (or not-so-peaceful) demonstration" to champion our rights. The question we must ask is, "Does God allow for me to exercise my right to be angry?" Do I have the "right" to be angry? Jonah is a great example to help us understand

Blame. One of the underlying thoughts in our anger is a sense of superiority over others. This is because anger is rooted in a perceived violation of our own sense of right and wrong (Uprooting Anger, Robert D. Jones). We become the prosecutor, judge, and jury of another's actions. We elevate ourselves over others and refuse to recuse ourselves in the process. This sense of pride leads to blame. Pride says "I am not angry because of something in me, but I am angry because of

The Gift of Being Mistreated. If we believe that God is sovereign then we must conclude that His will includes our own mistreatment at the hand of others. We see this exemplified with Jesus' suffering and mistreatment on the cross at the hand of others. Lamentations 3:37-38 indicate that from the Most High both bad and good come to us. God never promised that His people would be marked by lives that are trouble-free, but rather how we trust Him during good times and bad. Job

Our Shield and Protector. For those of us who deal with the sin of anger, anger is often our shield of defense. When we are threatened, vulnerable, or exposed, anger is a seemingly effective protector. Our anger causes people to keep their distance or retreat. This momentary success of our anger seems effective, but our vulnerabilities and fears are left unattended. The cycle of anger continues as we feel isolation and exposure (that we often contribute to). Our feelings are

Ways to bless your enemy. Rather than being angry with those who oppose us, we are called to seek their blessing. How can we do this? We must understand what blessing others means. "We want to help them in their relationship with God by displaying God's character - this is what is in their best interests." We must also recognize that humility and gentleness (both characteristics of God) are foundational to our interactions with enemies. Ed Welch gives ten ways to bless our en

Bless your enemy. If we are to put off anger, then we are to put on something in place of it. What is it? Paul teaches in Romans 12:14 that we are to bless those who persecute us and that we are not to curse them. Paul's words echo Jesus' words in Matthew 5:43-44. We are to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us. The logic follows: 1) We have been the enemy of God, 2) He has shown mercy and love to us, 3) He shows His love, even now, to His enemies, and 4) as sons

God's Anger. God can be provoked to anger. God hates evil (Proverbs 8:13). God hates dishonest scales (Proverbs 20:10). God hates haughty eyes, a lying tongue, murderers, schemers, false witnesses, and those who stir up dissensions (Proverbs 6:16-19). We understand in these situations that God's anger is stirred when His honor or glory is violated or when people are oppressed, especially those who are too weak or unable to defend themselves. A better understanding of God's an

Learned Anger. There is nothing quite so shocking as hearing our own kids repeat the exact words with the same intonation that we use as a parent. This can be humorous, but also can startle us into reality when they mimic our anger in their own conversation. It helps us to realize that anger and its expressions can be learned, but it also causes us to realize that just as negative characteristics can be learned, positive conversation qualities can be learned as well. We can d

Full vent or Straight-up Embarrassment. Anger does not make us behave in particular ways, but rather in our anger we choose to behave in what can be ridiculous ways. Temper tantrums by toddlers are wrong, but somewhat understandable. Temper tantrums by adult men or women are wrong and shameful. I have witnessed men on the golf course throwing clubs, screaming and jumping around, or just walking off. I know a man who had a bad score in bowling, he responded in rage by throwing