Anger is an important matter. Road rage, conflict in the home, broken relationships, divorce, injustice and abuse are the results of anger. We all, in one way or another, will wrestle with anger.
Anger In The Body – Physical reactions to anger can include muscle tension in the lower back and neck, racing heart rate, shaking, cold hands, red face, headaches, stomach upset, fatigue, crying, raised voice, lashing out verbally. Anger that is turned inward and repressed may lead to anxiety and a greater risk of heart problems, and other physical diseases. (Maté, G.,When the Body Says No, 2004).
Anger In The Mind – Anger may be the cause for some people to feel victimized, discounted, dismissed or ignored. A persistent sense of helplessness drives many to seek justice or revenge in a destructive way.
Anger In Families – In families where expression of anger was not allowed, ignored or processed in an unhealthy manner, children learn to express anger through whining, pouting or being clingy. If these anger patterns are not resolved, they are typically replayed in adult life in hurtful ways.
“I Am Not Angry – I Am Spiritually P.O.ed” – What is at the root of our irritation, displeasure or irritability? What triggers my annoyance, ill temper and your sarcastic humor or frustration? What is it that I want and do not get? Why I am I ticked off when I get what I do not want?
Anger is not always recognized for what it is and consequently, responses to anger triggers are often not helpful but hurtful.
Anger Defined
“Our anger is our whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil.” (Jones, Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem, 2005).
This definition encompasses 5 key ideas:
- Active response: Anger is an action, something we do, not something we have. The Bible is full of stories of people who do anger, not who own or harbor anger.
- Whole-personed: Scripture depicts the reality of anger as involving our entire being and engaging our whole person.
- Response against: It does not arise in a vacuum or appear spontaneously. Its causal core lies in our active hearts that responds to people and events in daily life.
- Negative moral judgment: Our anger postures us against what we determine to be unacceptable. It casts negative mental votes against unjust actions. Jesus taught that anger is the moral equivalent of murder.
- Perceived evil: our moral judgment arises from our personal perspectives. In anger we perceive some action, object, situation, or person to be evil or unjust.
When In Anger – Do Not Sin: Taking Angry Thoughts Captive
Grace Based Counselling is effective for identifying anger triggers, taking ownership of ineffective responses to dealing with old anger patterns, replacing distorted thinking and irrational core beliefs with new ways of thinking that are God-honoring, neighbor loving and contributing to healthy minds, marriages, and communities.
Heres Snjider, B. Ed., MA, RCC
Contract Counsellor, CCCA