Everybody gets angry at some point. And it’s not necessarily a sin. Like a fast-flowing river, it can generate constructive energy or destructive energy, and be unleashed negatively or harnessed positively. We often misunderstand anger as something that’s done to us by others or by circumstances. We say things like, ‘I couldn’t help it; they pushed my buttons!’ ‘What could I do; they made me mad!’ That sounds like what Adam said when he was in Eden: ‘The woman you gave me made me do it!’ Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we’ve claimed to be victims of people, the devil, and circumstances beyond our control – a belief that causes us to feel helpless and at the mercy of external forces. What does God’s Word say about our anger? ‘Sensible people control their temper.’ That means when sensible people get angry, they control their emotions. No matter what the external trigger is, the answer is always an internal response. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). Staying filled with God’s Spirit is the key to anger management. The Bible says, ‘The grace of God…teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age’ (Titus 2:11-12 NIV). Instead of feeding anger by thinking to ourselves, ‘You can’t get away with treating me like that,’ we can hold on to the Holy Spirit within us, and try thinking, ‘No matter what you say or do, God’s Spirit lives in me, He’ll help me keep my self-control!’
