“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”” – Hebrews 12:4-6 (ESV)
“Control your anger!”
“Why are you so angry?”
“Stop getting angry.”
And better yet, when we are on the receiving side of anger or have gotten angry at someone, the response usually is: “My feelings are valid.”
I used to think that as long as one controls their anger, it’s okay to be angry. But the problem is, when we are angry, we will always need an outlet. A healthy way to release our anger. Usually, the way we confront or release our anger is not healthy – for ourselves and others. Even after a while of suppressing our anger, it will eventually erupt, just as a volcano can remain dormant for periods of time – and erupt with devastating effects.
The Bible says that anger IS a flood (Proverbs 27:4). Have you ever seen them? They’re impossible to manage or control! In the end, what’s left after the flood has passed is to pick up any pieces that remain behind.
Furthermore, God’s Word teaches us that as Christians, we are expected to be slow to become angry, because human anger never results in the kind of lifestyle, words, thoughts, and actions that honors God (James 1:19-21).
God knows our weaknesses and empathizes with them (Hebrews 4:15). The Bible acknowledges that there are times we become angry. But we can control how we deal with it.
We can control what we say and do when we are angry so that we do not sin before God and people. And we are to always leave that anger, to surrender it up to God before the day ends – otherwise Satan will have a secure place in our lives in which he can progress further to our ruin and ruin of others who will be affected by us (Ephesians 4:26-27).
Finally, we are to cast off our old selves and allow God to work in us (Ephesians 4:22-23).
And so we cannot control our anger, but God has equipped us with all we need on how we deal with it (2 Timothy 1:7). We need to always begin by surrendering it up to Him. No Christian can conquer him or herself without prayer.
“We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NCV)