Bible & Anger

The Bible gives us some ways to understand how to cope with anger. The Bible and the information below are not a substitute for counselling. People who struggle with anger need to receive counselling from a qualified counsellor.Ephesians 4:26 (King James Version) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Ephesians 4:26 (Contemporary English Version) Don't get so angry that you sin. Don't go to bed angry.

Anger in itself is an emotion. It is not a sin. The Bible gives examples of God being angry and we know God has never sinned. Bitter remorse does not need to be felt due to feeling angry.

From these texts we see an important principle. We are cautioned to not let anger make us sin. Christians are to deal with anger, shortly after those feelings arise, instead of letting the frustration build up until there is an explosion.

Anger can be compared to getting air miles points. With air miles points, you get a certain number of points when you purchase things from specific stores. Each time you become angry, you get a few air miles points. Eventually, you have enough air miles points to take a trip. And you end up taking a trip deep into anger. When frustration builds up too high, a person can become verbally or physically explosive.

To prevent anger from building up, feelings of anger need to be addressed so they are not stored up for long periods of time. One way to reducing feelings of anger is to use assertive communication.

With assertive communication, the goal is not to be rude or pushy. God does not want His people to be rude and pushy. The goal of assertive communication is to resolve the problem that caused anger.

One formula for communicating assertively is to do the following:

1. Think of the problem. Name or explain the problem in a short sentence.

2. State how the problem makes you feel, using a specific emotion.

3. State how you would like the problem solved