Root of Anger

 By: Grace Metzger

Be angry and do not sin; do not

let the sun go down on your anger.

Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Anger has always been something I struggle with. I will admit that it’s gotten better with age, but as a child it was something I was deeply ashamed of. I felt like my emotions were wrong and sinful, that I was disappointing God whenever I got angry.

Lately due to millions tiny of reasons my anger has been constant. It feels like it’s always lurking in the back of my mind waiting for the perfect moment to come out. Because of this, shame and guilt have also been storming my mind. I was recently talking to a coworker and they brought up their own recent struggles with anger. They were also worried about this new emotion and were looking into routes on how to stop feeling like this. I felt their desperation about wanting to no longer feel this turmoil and I wanted to help them and myself figured out how we can stop this.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and

slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Ephesians 4:31 ESV

It got me into a deep soul searching that lasted a few nights. In order to understand how to stop something, you need to understand what is causing it. Sure, I can learn how to have better self-control and that would make a tremendous effect on my life, but I will still feel anger. I live in fear that one day that my anger show itself to others. But when we learn the cause then we can work on eliminating that cause and that will make a greater impact. 

I can't speak for everyone's root cause of anger, I can only speak of what mine has been and how I found mine. I looked back on when I started feeling like this, when it got worse. For me, it was when I felt alone, when I felt like God was far away from me. When I feel like that, I start seeing every single problem and stop seeing all the small, wonderful miracles of God. 

When you start focusing on all your small problems, things like anger, hurt, and sadness can start chipping away at your heart. The devil takes those small chips and run with them, he will make those small things feel like major things until anger and hatred of taken control of your life. 

So how do we stop this? Well, I will let you know that it is not an easy road in the slightest! It is a long path that takes daily effort. But the things that take the greatest effect can make the biggest impact on your life. For me it was staying focused on God, not on my problems and not on my current situations.  Things like staying consistent in the reading the Word, praying daily, and continuing to fellowship with other believers allow me to remember God's love. They remind me that God is still with me no matter what is going on. Reading this sounds so much easier then acting on it, when you're going through difficult situations it can be difficult to continue doing these things. But when you do, you get to see God's love replace your anger.

Discussion Question: 

1.) How do you stay consistent in faith during difficult moments?

2.) How do you deal with your anger?