6- Biblical Anger Management - Constant Anger
1-CONSTANT ANGER 2- AND ANGRY MAN 3-THE RIGHTEOUS CRUSADER
“He
that is soon angry deals foolishly:” “An angry man stirs up strife, and
a furious man abounds in transgressions.” Proverbs 14:17, 29”22
Characteristics:-
Always feel angry, easily set off and agitated/explosive, ready to strike
out/hostile physically or verbally, contentious, yet all the while feeling
strongly justified. Your thoughts are often filled with contentions, debates,
strife, and repetitive issues.
NOTE
!!! God’s testimony against this behavior is serious! Making
excuses and justifying
ourselves is nothing short of
foolishness and rebellion; however, He is gracious, loving, and
ever ready to help us get on
track. Let us move ahead.
# 1–Constant Anger-
Unresolved issue(s) and hurts–
unmanageable circumstances-losing ground/battle
Constant Anger will
differ from the Angry Man in that it may not be the result of learned or
undisciplined behavior but rather the breaking down or gradual wearing down
under the relentless pressures of stress, fatigue, frustration, hurts,
anxieties, disappointments, resulting in attacking or striking out reactions.
We are able
to maintain our composure to varying degrees depending on our character
development etc. for certain lengths of time; however, regardless of whom we
may imagine ourselves to be we all have a breaking point under certain types of
pressure and circumstances. Again this does not warrant excuses for misbehavior
nor can we feel justified about them either. Furthermore, unless we can
recognize the symptoms, pride will often set in and blind us to the seriousness
of the situation and behavior. Consequently, in the pursuit of our objective(s)
we will maintain determination, become increasingly aggressive and intolerant,
and all the while we feel justified. Since it may have developed over a period
of time, we may not even realize that there is a problem and even think that we
are merely doing what we feel is necessary to attain our goals.
Constant anger can also be an indication of
very deep and unattended emotional wounds, physical problems, anxieties,
frustration, stress and fatigue, demonic activity, alcoholism and drugs, and
any possible combination. The most outstanding of these are unresolved
offenses, hurts, frustrations, and resentments. Wounds and offenses may very
well be justified, but how we handle them afterwards may draw us into the sin
of bitterness and hate, consequently, constant anger. “Wherefore lift up
the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for
your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather
be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled:
”Hebrews 12:12-15
Uncalculated circumstances can expose
us to incredible pressure. The outcome is likely predictable.
Another
related situation is trying to maintain while fighting a losing battle. In our mind we may feel we can or will
win, but all the data indicates that the battle is going the opposite way.
Again we may try and reason otherwise, yet our patience and tolerance is
wearing progressively thin. This does not necessarily mean that we will lose,
but we need to carefully determine what we must do to come through successfully. Whatever the cause
it/they must be identified and dealt with immediately or you are heading
for serious trouble!
1st
PREPARATIONS- a. You must acknowledge your situation and behaviour and take
the actions and steps required to END IT. Pay
the price!
b. you must
be ready and willing to face correction and
make changes that
may hurt initially, seem costly to your focus, addenda,
seem time
consuming – this requires humility and patience.
c. you must
be ready and willing to face certain things and
yourself that may
be hard to do. (Jesus is there with you)
This requires
faith and humility.
STOP-
CONSIDER- DECIDE- PRAY (TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU NEED)
NOTE:
Our thinking process can be our greatest enemy. “He that is slow to anger is of great
understanding.” If our thinking
process leads us to bitter and resentful conclusions we are not thinking in the
terms of God’s Holy Word. Our attitude and behaviors are to be Christ-like.
When we fall short we know that we must make a change somewhere. “But if you have bitter envying and strife in
your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not
from above, but is earthy, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work. James 3:14-16 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good.” Romans 12:21, “Love thinks no evil (keeps no record of wrongs
NIV) 1 Corinthians 13:5, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23. Again, this does not mean that
what has happened is not real or we are not justified to be hurt, but God wants
our conclusions to allow His healing and life to come in. This may mean
confronting and speaking the truth in love. Matthew
18, Ephesians 4:15.
ALERT!!! SERIOUS
DANGER SYMPTOMS
1 -
Constant bombardment of angry and resentful thoughts
2 –
Repetitive memories of a bitter experience(s)
3 –
Unable to see good or find the love of God for certain people
or individuals
4 –
Unable to resolve past experiences, forgive and release
These are evil and demonically inspired
and you must repent and break all agreement with them before you endanger
yourself and others. God loves you and He is for you!
STOP –EXAMINE-
CONSIDER – DO SO NOW!!!
ACTION
STEP#1- TAKE IT TO JESUS RIGHT NOW and ask Him to
help
you, teach you,
and forgive you if necessary and heal you.
DO SO NOW!!!
“An angry man stirs up dissension,
and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.” Proverbs 29:22
STEP#2-
DISARM YOURSELF
-Yield up
wholeheartedly to the Lord the need/desire/assumed
right to defend,
justify, avenge yourself. (Psalm 37:1-10)
- Repent of the assumed
right to attack, straighten out and punish people (revenge). This is wickedness. Romans 12:17-19, James
4:1-4
NOTE: If you are able to
do this fully and carefully before the Lord,
you may likely
have the sensation of feeling very insecure and
defenceless,
perhaps even helpless. Here you may look at
yourself and all
your issues without any facades and hear the
the Lord more clearly
and understand His Word. This is full
submission to Him.
“Father,…yet not what I will, but what
You will.” “Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God.” Matthew
26:39, 5:8.
NOTE:
This should only be done in the Lord Who is our Defence.
In Him and
only in Him are we completely safe. Isaiah 41:10
.
STOP-
CONSIDER- DECIDE- PRAY (TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU NEED)
ACTION
STEP#3 CLEANSE YOURSELF- REPENT OF ALL AND ANY
ALCOHOL/ DRUG USE,
WITCHCRAFY, IMMORALITY,
AND ANY
ENTERTAINMENT THAT FEATURES THESE,
VIOLENCE AND THE LIKE.
–These things are true enemies of
the soul. They feed
and even help cause bad behavior, blind
judgment, inhibit
self-control, live and feed on self-centered and sensual behavior
which are, as the Bible calls, “the
works of the flesh.”
NOTE!!!
– If you are actively involved in these, not only will you unlikely be
unable to resolve a problem
of constant anger, but these very well may
be a major cause. Cleanse
yourself of these before God and you will
find that you have solved a
good portion of your problem already.
ACTION
STEP # 4- Examine your health; physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Sometimes our
problems can be rooted or enlarged by our
health in any of or
any combination of these areas. Pride,
ignorance,
presumption, carelessness can get in the way of us
tending to these
very important aspects of our lives. Then we
can find ourselves
struggling with things that are way out of
proportion.
ACTION
STEP #5- Identify the problem(s) and determine the core issue(s)
(This can be your
second or third step, just don’t shortcut).
Sometimes the real
issues or problems are concealed, obstructed,
complicated because of time, perspectives,
attitudes,
physical
conditions…, therefore time, truth, patience, and
perseverance are
likely needed to uproot and eliminate the
problem. We therefore need the guidance
of the Holy Spirit!
In other words,
what you think is the real problem
or issue may not
be at all and consequently always angry,
frustrated or bitter over something(s)
very non-issue. Pride
eagerly shores
these up.
Why are you
constantly angry (recognized by constant internal
debating, strife,
self-justifying, anger and attacking…)?
If readily
apparent it is time to confront
all the issues
squarely, thoroughly, and truthfully. We must
quit pampering our
sin and grab hold of the grace of God and
choose life. Dear
friends, if we are feeling constantly angry and
hostile, we are
likely walking in deception even if there may
have been valid issues. Unresolved
issues and unattended
wounds will fester
into a most horrible attitude and emotional state unless
thoroughly dealt
with. a. Have you forgiven them? This means
completely
cancelling their debt from your heart. Matt. 18:35
As far as you are
concerned, they are no longer guilty.
Consequently you
will no longer accuse or speak evil of them.
b. Have you confronted them, if possible,
and practical? Matt.1815-17.
c. Have you fully and truly acknowledged
your own guilt in
the matter? In conflicts it is rare that one party is guiltless.
d. Have you received your healing yet?
Dear loved one, God loves
you so much and Jesus came to cleanse and heal us.
We must go to Him
for it.
What is your real issue? Our hearts are, “deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9. Our
issues are often clouded over in self-justification and self-righteousness, all
the while we have convinced ourselves that our cause is just and the other is
guilty and wrong. Nevertheless the works of the flesh is (Galatians
5:19-21} testifying against us because our cause is perhaps motivated
by a judgment or accusation we may have made or believed against the other
person or party and consequently our attitude, view, or treatment of them is
un-Christ-like. “ Love thinks no evil… Love bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things” 1 Corinthians 13. If we fear God
and are truly willing to repent He will reveal it to us so we can repent and be
free.
STOP- CONSIDER- EXAMINE-JUDGE YOURSELF
AND ACT ACCORDINGLY –
Challenge your thinking, perspectives,
understanding, what you believe to be right. What is feeding
your
anger? If you can look at these objectively you may find you have enslaved
yourself. If you are the type of person who demands perfection or has to have
things in a certain order or certain way, you may very likely struggle with
being easily or constantly angry. You will no doubt have many frustrations and
disappointments.
Helpful Hints: - Learn to accept
one another Romans 14:1
- Practice/live
the patience of love 1 Corinthians 13
- Release
debts – what you figure people owe Matthew 6:12
- Be
thankful – Does amazing things for our outlook of life. Ephesians 5:20
- Develop
a Godly view of your own weaknesses and downfalls - only God is Good
- Learn
from the Bible how Jesus deals with wrong, evil, people’s folly Romans 2:4
NOTE-
If issues and hurts are left unattended they will fester and
grow. The devil will gladly help your grief/hurt/offence along with the intent
to destroy you and as many people that he can through it. He will bring up the
same issues, memories, feelings again and again to intensify your pain and
anger until they are driving you. The responsibility is yours, and God lovingly
holds you accountable. You can take them to the cross of Christ or you can let
them harm yourself and others. THE DECEPTION IS THAT YOU START TO BELIEVE
THE WORST ABOUT WHOEVER YOU HOLD GUILTY EVEN IF THERE IS TRUTH TO IT, AND THAT
YOU FEEL JUSTIFIED ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE AND EVEN YOUR BEHAVIOR – REGARDLESS OF
HOW VILE AND UNCHRIST-LIKE IT IS.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control…The acts of the
flesh are obvious: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,…dissensions,
factions…” Galatians 5:22-23, 19-20.
“But whoever hates his brother is in the
darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded him.”
1John
2:11
As
these scriptures declare, as long as there is hate, un-forgiveness,
self-justification, you will never see clearly and will remain in that state,
and feel completely justified.
It’s
over and done! Do you want to keep it alive, or let it die? It is time. Are you
ready to forgive, repent, bear responsibility, to change, be healed? If you
keep blaming, you will always be angry.
IDENTIFYING AND CONFRONTING UNMANAGEABLE
RESPONSIBILITIES AND LOOSING BATTLES
“Come
unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you
shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
“I
can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
“To
everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...A
time to get (search), and a time to lose (to give up)…” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
“Because
to every purpose there is time and judgement (procedure), therefore the misery
of man is great upon him.” Ecclesiastes 8:6
“Every
purpose is established by counsel; and with good advice make war.” Proverbs
20:18
“For
by wise counsel you shall make your war; and in the multitude of counsellors
there is safety.” Ecc.24:6
“The
meek will He guide in judgement, and the meek will He teach His way.” Psalm
25:9
“But
if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not
against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly,
sensual, devilish. For where there is envying and strife, there is confusion
and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is
sown in peace of them that make peace.” James 3:14-18 PSALM 37:1-9
SYMPTOMS
When we are deeply involved in something it is
more difficult to judge ourselves objectively, which is why athletes have
coaches. Therefore the instruction in Scripture strongly advises us to get wise
counsel especially when we are engaged in something that will produce some type
of conflict (which applies to any struggle in life).
You
are currently involved in a project, duty, goal/objective which has the primary
occupancy of your life. You have been laboring at it wholeheartedly and
relentlessly but do not seem to be gaining ground, or your burden seems
unending and unmanageable. Your patience and tolerance is wearing thin, but
your sense of duty or determination has not lessened.
ACTION STEP 1- OBSERVE/JUDGE
YOURSELF “But let a man examine
himself…for if we judge ourselves, we
should not be judged.”1 Cor. 1128,31
Do you notice your thoughts often angry towards anyone,
anything?
“For as
he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
Do you notice that you find yourself attacking people, things?
Do you see the fruit of the Holy
Spirit in your behaviour or the works
of the flesh? Galatians 5:19-23
Are you out of balance?
Have you heard complaints about your attitude or do people avoid
you? Are you too busy to take regular time off? Are you thoughts and
conversations mostly around your
projects/goals/ambitions/interests/duties?
Are you finding yourself unable to take time and genuine interest in the
affairs and interests of others, especially your family and friends?
Philippians 2:4
Simply, how are things going? Are you fatigued? Are you winning?
Are things going well, are your goals being achieved? …
STOP –
CONSIDER- EXAMINE
2-
GETTING YOUR BEARING – Where are you in
regards to your God-given duties/responsibilities?
Where are you
in regards to your personal goals, objectives and values?
Are these goals
in line with the Scriptures and are they directed by
God’s Holy Spirit?
In life we must
constantly access our bearing the way a ship needs to do on the open sea to
ensure that we have not deviated off course ever so slightly. Assumptions and
wrong directions are critical and the causes of many shipwrecks. 11 Timothy 2:15-18
STOP – CONSIDER-CALCULATE
3-
HUMBLE YOURSELF – We cannot see clearly nor learn
anything until we humble ourselves, face criticism, be corrected. Proverbs 9:8
To humble
ourselves also includes that we must cease to defend and
justify
ourselves, be challenged, be wrong even in our own eyes.
STOP-DO SO NOW WITH ALL YOUR HEART- ask the Lord to forgive you
and help you.
4-
EXECUTE JUDGEMENT IN YOUR LIFE- Determine
where you need to be and what changes that you need to make to get there. You
need the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the clarification of the Holy Scriptures,
and perhaps some good godly counsel and criticism.
When we do not see the fruit of the Holy
Spirit working in our lives but rather the works of the flesh we know that we
are off course and that changes need to be made, or we can be sure that
disaster of some kind will come. “Be not
wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health
to your navel and marrow to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8
STOP-EXAMINE-BEGIN
5-Scrutinize your objectives, assumed
duties/responsibilities, ambitions in the light of God’s Holy Word. His yoke is
easy and His burden is light.
Have we learned from Him? Have you been
following the godly examples that we
see in Scripture as well as those in your world?
Remember: “…for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chron. 20:14
“Unless the Lord builds the house,
they labour in vain that build
it.” Psalm 127:1
SUMMARY: If you are fighting a seemingly losing Battle,
or trying to stay on top of an unmanageable situation it is time to question:
1.
Have you deviated from the original course?
2.
Are your method’s or thinking inappropriate
for the task?
3.
Is it time to quit?
4.
Have you stepped out of line and attempted
what was not your, or taken on too much?
5.
Are your motives incorrect?
When we grasp these, our burden is truly
lightened, stress is
minimized, and
duty can actually become a joy. We just do our best and
the results are up to Him. Praise His Holy Name!!! You can actually
bear fruit to His glory and people will actually feel comfortable around
you.
STOP-CONSIDER-PONDER THOROUGHLY-You need to accurately evaluate
where you are at in order to determine where you need to be and what you need
to do to get there.
CONSTANT ANGER MUST BE ARRESTED – EVEN JUST FOR YOUR SAKE!
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