Overcoming Anger

Overcoming Anger

Proverbs 19:11

11Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Illustration:

Ever Heard of Air Rage

-As a passenger boarded the Los Angeles-to-New York plane, he told the flight attendant to wake him and make sure he got off when they set down at the mid point in Dallas. The passenger awoke just as the plane was landing in New York. Furious, he called the flight attendant and demanded an explanation. She mumbled an apology and, in a rage, the passenger stomped off the plane. "Boy, was he ever mad!" another crew member observed to her errant colleague, "If you think he was mad," replied the flight attendant, "you should have seen the guy I put off the plane in Dallas!"

A. But have you ever lost your temper? Do you ever do things you wish you hadn’t done, or say things you wish you had never said?

Well, the Bible has something to say about overcoming anger. Proverbs 19:11 says, "11Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.” (NLT)

The secret? If someone offends you, & if you are a man of wisdom (God’s wisdom) then you can overlook it, & not allow the situation to become a major event that overwhelms you.

B. there are 4 types of anger dealt with in the Bible.

1. There is sudden anger. ----is to be controlled.

2. There is sinful anger. The Bible says to be condemned.

3. There is stubborn anger.---- is to be conquered.

4. There is sanctified anger. r is to be channeled.

I. SUDDEN ANGER IS TO BE CONTROLLED

A. First of all there is sudden anger, & the Bible says that

sudden anger is to be controlled.

1. Proverbs 14:17 says, "A quick-tempered man does foolish

things." blame our quick temper on our red hair. blame it

on our heritage. After all, we’re Irish or something

2. But the bottom line is, if we have a short fuse, we’re

going to do a lot of foolish things.

3. When we lose our temper we say things we know we

shouldn’t say, do things we’re sorry for later on.

Illustration: After spending 3-1/2 hours enduring long lines, rude clerks and insane regulations at the Department of Motor Vehicles, Glenn Vaughan stopped at a toy store to pick up a gift for his son. "I brought my selection - a baseball bat - to the cash register," he said. "Cash or charge?" the clerk asked. "Cash," He snapped. Then apologizing for his rudeness, he explained, "I’ve spent the entire afternoon at the motor vehicle bureau." The woman sweetly replied, "shall I gift-wrap the bat...or are you going back there?"

B. Next, Proverbs 15:18 says, " 18A hot-tempered person starts fights; a cool-tempered person stops them.”(NLT) 18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. (RSV)

1.You have a short fuse, if you’re always losing your temper

a.If you’re walking around with a chip on your shoulder,

b.f you’re just looking for somebody to say something that will irritate you,

c.Then you’re going to leave a trail of hurt feelings & unhappiness behind you.

ILL. Will Rogers said, "Whenever you fly into a rage, you seldom make a safe landing." And he is right.

ILL. Chuck Swindoll said, "I got so angry that I gave him a piece of my mind. And it was a piece that I couldn’t afford to lose."

The writer of Proverbs said, "A hot temper stirs up dissension."

Prov. 19:19 “A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty.”)(NLT)

Doctors tell us that losing our temper consistently brings about high blood pressure, dryness of mouth, & a fast-beating heart. It could even bring pre-mature death.

ILL. Have you heard about the dog named “August” who was always trying to chase a mule named “Conclusion?” One day he jumped at Conclusion, bit him & “Conclusion kicked back at August. And that was the last day of August. Think about that for a moment.

Sometimes we jump to conclusions & Solomon says that it is to our folly & our shame.

1. A hot temper could also mean loss of family & friends.

The penalties of losing our temper are many.

B. So the Bible says, "If you have a sudden temper, then you need to control it." But how can we do that?

ILL. You say, "Why, I just can’t control my temper. It gets away from me." But you can. Have you ever found yourself engaged in a heated discussion with your voice getting louder & your words becoming more rapid? Then the telephone rings & you say, "Hello." Sure, you can control your temper.

C. So we need to recognize that we have a problem with

temper.

1.As long as we deny it, as long as we blame it on heritage or short-fuse or whatever we choose to blame it on, we’ll never improve.