Defusing Anger Series

Scripture: 1 Samuel 25:1-35; Ephesians 4:17-32

Sermon Series - Caring for God's People

Sermon # 3 - Defusing the Anger Bomb - S. T. O. P.

INTRO:

Good morning! I am so glad that you are here today!

Radio personality, Dawson McAllister has spend the majority of adult life seeking to help teens and young adults handle the difficult issues in their lives. McAllister hosts a weekly radio station along with internet site THE HOPE LINE.COM. One of McAllister's specialties is helping young people deal with their anger issues. He has composed a list of the different reason why people say that they get angry. Listen to some of them along with his thoughts:

Shawnee wrote: “What makes me angry? Being ignored.”

Ali wrote: “Fake people and liars.”

Jake wrote: “Trying hard at something and failing.”

Ashley wrote: “I hate it when people criticize me and have no idea what I go through.”

Michael wrote: “Being nice to people, only to have them be mean to me.”

Jane wrote: “Not being able to control my emotions.”

When you feel anger, it’s easy to think you want to lash out to make up for whatever, or whoever, has hurt you. Unfortunately, we all know that anger can get out of control and become destructive, causing a ton of problems. Many learn angry behavior over many years.

When something doesn’t go the way we think it should,

we try to take control over the out of control situation with anger.

Ana wrote: “I’ve become an angry person, because I learned it from my mom, who is always getting mad at everything and yelling.

However all the anger I get I take it on myself and I start cutting myself. I don’t like to show others I’m angry for something they did, because I always think it’s my fault.” Ana, acting out in her anger, is not helping her one bit. Instead of dealing with anger in a positive way, she turns it inward, making matters all the worse. Her anger may be legitimate, but her reaction to it is not.

So why do we get angry?

#1 • We get angry when our expectations are not met. When something doesn’t go the way we think it should, we try to take control over the out of control situation with anger.

Chells wrote: “Usually I don’t get angry much…however being accused of things will set me off big time.”

#2 • We also get angry when we feel we’re being threatened. And it may or may not be a real situation. We’ve all seen a person get angry about something that isn’t a real threat at all. For example: the guy at a bar who gets in a fight with another guy because, “He looked at me funny,” when the other guy didn’t even know he was there. People carry a lot of emotional baggage into certain situations, making them feel more threatened than they need to feel.

#3 • Additionally, some angry people carry their resentments and rage around with them at all times, creating an environment that makes other people be more aggressive toward them, just enhancing the whole anger cycle. These are the kinds of people who have a very short fuse, and any number of things will set them off.

You don’t have to let anger control you.

Here are some other reasons why some people get angry. Maybe

you’ve experienced some of these:

• Grief – losing a loved one. Rudeness Tiredness

• Hunger Pain Withdrawal from drugs or some medications

• Some physical conditions, such as PMS Physical illness Mental illness

• Alcohol, some drugs, alcohol abuse, drug abuse Injustice Being teased or bullied

• Humiliation Embarrassment Deadlines

• Traffic jams Disappointment Sloppy service

• Failure Infidelity Burglary

• Financial problems Being told you have a serious illness

The fact is, just about anything can trigger an angry reaction. Monica said, “I get angry very often. And quite frankly I don’t know how to deal with my anger. I bottle it up inside and every so often it all comes out.”

Remember, even though anger will most likely be a part of the rest of your life, you don’t have to let it control you.1

Our Old Testament passage this morning is an anger story. It is a story about a time when David became so angry that he was willing to commit murder. 1 Samuel 25 tells us that David was on his way to murder every male that was either a part of Nabal's household or that working for Nabal. David had an army of 400 rugged fighting men armed to the teeth ready to annihilate Nabal and his men. David was out for blood and there was nothing that was going to stop him. Nabal and his men were finished. By in the next morning there would be dead bodies strewn all over the hillsides of Carmel. Nabal, his family and all the men who worked for him would be all be dead.