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Personal Integrity: Control your anger
“Born to Be Wild” is more than just a song (Steppenwolf, circa 1968). It is a summary of the basic human state of mind when untouched by the gospel. Come on--admit it. Throwing off restraint is exhilarating.
So is losing your temper. There was a time when I thought that angry people were unhappy. Actually it’s worse than that. Blowing up and “going off” on someone actually releases a blast of adrenaline that many people find exciting. There’s a thrill to telling somebody off. Have you felt it?
There are groups of people, even families, who don’t know any way of communicating with one another except through angry words. It’s just expected that one insult is going to be answered with an even bigger put-down, and so on. And if you have the misfortune of spending any time with such a group of people, before too long you will be acting like that too. It’s as if you’re tapping into something deep inside of you that otherwise you’d consider best left alone.
The problem is that anger is pure emotion, and emotion is usually irrational. Anger outbursts rarely solve any problems or do any good. They more often destroy things and people. Here is some of God’s wisdom: “He who guards his lips guards his [soul], but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin” (13:3).
If you’ve lost your temper, let Jesus help you find it again. And if you must be wild, just wait to take a ride on your Harley when you get back.
“Born to Be Wild” is more than just a song (Steppenwolf, circa 1968). It is a summary of the basic human state of mind when untouched by the gospel. Come on--admit it. Throwing off restraint is exhilarating.
So is losing your temper. There was a time when I thought that angry people were unhappy. Actually it’s worse than that. Blowing up and “going off” on someone actually releases a blast of adrenaline that many people find exciting. There’s a thrill to telling somebody off. Have you felt it?
There are groups of people, even families, who don’t know any way of communicating with one another except through angry words. It’s just expected that one insult is going to be answered with an even bigger put-down, and so on. And if you have the misfortune of spending any time with such a group of people, before too long you will be acting like that too. It’s as if you’re tapping into something deep inside of you that otherwise you’d consider best left alone.
The problem is that anger is pure emotion, and emotion is usually irrational. Anger outbursts rarely solve any problems or do any good. They more often destroy things and people. Here is some of God’s wisdom: “He who guards his lips guards his [soul], but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin” (13:3).
If you’ve lost your temper, let Jesus help you find it again. And if you must be wild, just wait to take a ride on your Harley when you get back.
Scripture
About this Plan
The experience of serving your country overseas--and sometimes seeing firsthand man’s inhumanity to man--may teach you important lessons about life while turning your stomach at the same time. But recognize that God has an even better way for us to learn life wisdom, a way that continually draws us closer to him no matter how far from family or church we might be. Because of his great love for us, he would much rather make us wiser through words. In this way we wouldn’t be sadder but wiser; we would be wiser and happier. The Bible’s book of Proverbs is an absolute gold mine of wisdom for the daily decisions you must make. It will help you develop your personal values and tune your life’s agenda more closely to resemble God’s.
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We would like to thank Time of Grace Ministry for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.timeofgrace.org
