Anger is inevitable, because anger is a natural human emotion. If we try to block it out or suppress it, it doesn’t work. Suppressing our anger only harms us in the long run. What we need to do is learn to control our anger.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
People, at the time of this writing, I’m feeling angry. Not exactly at the very moment I’m writing these words, but for the past few days in general. Lately I’ve been having a conflict with my neighbor. And nothing causes more stress than problems at home or at work. So my neighborhood-level problem is on my mind a lot.
Oh well. When God said to love our neighbor He meant all our neighbors, not only the ones who are easy to get along with. It’s not a Virtuous deed to get along with someone who’s easy to get along with, after all.
Well, until I deal with that, what do I do with the anger I have??
Jesus and the New Testament have a lot to say about anger. Maybe they have a lot to say about it because anger is so destructive, or maybe it’s because anger is inevitable. Yes, anger is a natural human emotion that we all have.
Since we all have to deal with anger, today’s post shares practical tips useful for dealing with anger. Anger is energy, and we can feel this energy in our bodies if we pay attention. There are healthy and constructive ways to get rid of anger from our systems without inflicting it on others. So today I present a short list of anger outlets we can use to deal with this intense, but natural human emotion.
The Anger Danger
Anger doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. That’s a famous quote from James 1 (verse 20 to be precise). We can’t be angry people, losing our cool and shouting and arguing with others, and also be Righteous for this in God’s Eyes. Angry outbursts are not what God wants or expects from us.
(19) Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. (20) This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness.
James 1:19-20 (CEB)
Jesus warns us of the grave danger of anger. He says if we’re angry with our brother or sister, we’re in danger of fiery hell!!
(22) But I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be in danger of judgment. If they say to their brother or sister, ‘You idiot,’ they will be in danger of being condemned by the governing council. And if they say, ‘You fool,’ they will be in danger of fiery hell. (23) Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, (24) leave your gift at the altar and go. First make things right with your brother or sister and then come back and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:22-24 (CEB)
Alright, so we know anger is a great danger. Hey, even non-Christians know that in some ways. But here’s the problem we all have to deal with: Anger is inevitable.
Anger is inevitable, because anger is a natural human emotion. If we try to block it out or suppress it, it doesn’t work. Suppressing our anger only harms us in the long run. What we need to do is learn to control our anger.
Nothing in the New Testament says we will never get angry, or that we must suppress, ignore, deny, or shut off our anger (which isn’t possible). Taking that a little further, nothing in the Bible says we are evil for getting angry, because anger is a natural human emotion. Everyone is 100% guaranteed to get angry in life sometimes; there’s no avoiding it.
But what Jesus and the New Testament do say is that we need to deal with our anger. We need to control it. We need to Forgive and let things go. We need to control our words and our actions. We can’t repress emotions, but we can always control our actions. We can channel our anger in healthy ways.
On that note, today I have a short list of some great areas to channel anger into. These are healthy and constructive ways to use up our anger energy. If we choose some of the options on today’s list rather than lashing out in anger at people, we will produce more of God’s Righteousness.
So let’s think about some ways we can control and let off our anger.
Practical Ways to Beat Anger
Physical Exercise
Physical activity is excellent for getting rid of anger, and letting that anger energy out. But the activity doesn’t have to be combat sports like boxing or MMA. We can channel our anger into any kind of exercise, like biking, swimming, sports, or weightlifting.
Anger can drive any physical activity. And anger is energy; we can feel it in our body. When we exercise we use up that energy, and it leaves us. So if we use our anger to fuel a workout or bike ride, etc., we use up that anger energy. By the time we’re done with our workout (etc.), most of our anger is gone. Whether it’s tough or relaxed, physical exercise is a great way to get anger energy out of the body.
Art
Art is very calming. Apparently even 30 minutes of making art (like painting, drawing, and many other things) reduces the stress hormone, cortisol, in our bodies.
When we focus on making art, without worrying about whether we’re doing “good” or “bad,” we reduce stress and also get rid of much of our anger energy by calming ourselves.
Music
This is like the art category, above. We can use anger to energize our music and the way we play our instruments. We can create angry music, and express our anger through the music. Some people may not like our aggressive music or style of playing, but that’s alright. Music is a safe and expressive outlet for our anger, a safe place for the anger to go. It’s better to get angry on a song recording than to get angry at another person for real.
Creative Writing
Have you heard that when we’re mad at someone, one of the best things to do is write them a letter that we’ll never send?? This really works because if we know we’ll never actually send it to the person, we can get out on paper how we truly feel about them. We can scream and shout at them (on paper, in writing) and curse them up and down. When we’re done we can either store the letter in our records (like U.S. President Abraham Lincoln did with his angry letters) or we can tear it up.
This method is so useful for getting anger out. Once we get going writing the letter, our anger toward the person fades as we keep writing. By the time we’re finished, the anger will be much less.
Besides letters that will never be sent, another option I like is short stories that will never be published. If no one will ever see what we write, we can go wild and have all the payback, retribution, and justice we want!! When we finish a session of creative writing like this, we’ll feel better and much less angry. The important thing is to get the anger out on paper, and let it stay there rather than coming into real life.
We Have a Spirit of Self-Control
Again, anger is a natural human emotion. We only harm ourselves by trying to repress, ignore, deny, or otherwise shut out natural human emotions. Anger is often seen as a “negative” emotion because it leads to so much conflict, tragedy, and sin. But emotions are natural things; they aren’t “good” or “bad,” they just are what they are.
Nothing in the Gospels or New Testament tells us to repress our anger. Jesus never told us to do that. Jesus knows we’re going to get angry in life!! It’s only natural and human.
What Jesus and the New Testament do make clear though, is that we do have control of ourselves and our anger because God gave us a Spirit of Self-Control. (2 Timothy 1:7)
(7) God didn’t give us a spirit that is timid but one that is powerful, loving, and self-controlled.
2 Timothy 1:7 (CEB)
We can control where our anger goes. We can control our words and actions when we’re angry. And we can channel our anger into safe, productive, and healthy areas. That’s the challenge, and the skill. The more we practice it, the better we’ll get.
But whether we choose one of the options on today’s list, or we do something else, we need to have some healthy way to manage our anger and redirect the anger energy. Because it’s a 100% guarantee that we’re going to get angry in this life. There’s no avoiding that. But we do have control over how we deal with our anger. And Jesus demands we deal with it in healthy ways.
So never throw a punch. Grab a canvas and throw down some paint instead. Then we will be acting like Children of the Most High.
That’s it for #shorts Part 49.
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