Gospel For Your Anger

Anger issues

Do you have anger issues? Maybe it’s not all the time. Maybe it’s only when you’re driving or playing sports. Or maybe it is all the time.

And you think “why am I mad all the time?”, “or why do I have these uncontrollable spurts of anger?”, “I wish I could do something about it.”

Why so angry?

I once heard that one reason people have anger problems was because they felt a sense of entitlement.

The thought is that many of the expressions of anger are because someone feels they were robbed of an opportunity, taken advantage of, didn’t get what they rightfully deserved, or were cheated somehow.

• You’re driving down the road and someone cuts them off, you burst out in anger because you feel someone took your place.
• You lash out in anger when someone speaks to you in a demeaning way because you feel they have not given you the respect you deserve.
• Someone at the grocery store pulls out a handful of coupons and your blood starts to boil because they are taking up your precious time.

Grace, on the other hand, says that you don’t deserve anything. That everything you’ve received is a gift.

 

Gospel for you Anger

So if this is the case, then you really haven’t been taken advantage of or robbed of an opportunity. Everything you’ve experienced or received was freely given to you by someone else  – God

James 1:17 tells us that, ^“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.“

So instead, your anger should turn into gratefulness and thankfulness because you are allowed to participate and enjoy certain privileges and gifts.

When you don’t get that position, you don’t have to get angry because God is in control. If someone cuts you off in traffic you don’t have to burst out in anger because the road really doesn’t belong to you. You can extend grace to the person using coupons at the grocery store because their time is just as precious as yours is.

And when you come to those places where you feel like you have missed out on an opportunity, taken advantage of, or have been cheated you will trust in God and know that he is still in control. 

And if you really stop and think about it, you’ve already been given enough to be thankful for the rest of your life.