Anger Management for MenSample

The Direction of Your Anger

What’s the sign that your anger is moving in the wrong direction?

This is Vince Miller.

Our text today is from Ephesians 4:26-27. It reads:

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. —Ephesians 4:26-27

We are all guilty of moving anger in the wrong direction. Everyone has done it. And we all know nothing good comes from it. But we get a sign when our anger moves in this direction. It’s an obvious sign. The problem is that we blow right past it. Here is the sign:

Inflammatory words.

When we get heated, the words start to fly. Our language changes, and the inflammatory words start dripping, leaking, and gushing out.

For example, phrases like “you always” and “you never” start gushing from our mouths, and they are a sure indication that we are heading full speed in the wrong direction. And let’s be clear — personal pronouns like “you” are very directional and accusatory. And words like “always” and “never” are overstatements that are almost always and never accurate. We do this because our sinful nature tends to speak and act like this. But this never helps; thus, every man has driven at high speed, down the wrong road, and in the wrong direction. And what happens is we raise new problems that make the day long rather than sunsetting the issue and finishing the day strong.

Here is your call to action today:

I want you to identify the inflammatory words you tend to use. We each have them. I have mine. But what are yours? Identify them. Confess them. See them as a signpost. And the next time these inflammatory words cross your mind, stop before they come gushing out of your mouth.