Anger – Part 1
Scripture: Genesis 4:3-7; 1 Peter 5:8;
The title of this series is “Anger.” Anger is an emotion that is a part of all of our lives – some more than others. I want you to think about what you see when a cartoon character gets angry. Anyone see the movie “Inside Out?” That movie was about the emotions within a person. My favorite character in that movie was anger. When you see a cartoon character get angry, you see steam coming out of the ears, red creeping over the body from head to toe and then there is an emotional explosion. While it might be funny to watch in a cartoon, it's not as entertaining to witness in real life; in fact it can be extremely scary.
Anger is defined as “A state of indignation and outrage, often resulting from distress caused by injustice or insult.” People get angry all the time but the problem is what we are actually getting angry over. We oftentimes get angry over the wrong things and subsequently do not get angry over those things that we should get angry about. For example, some of us are angry about what is happening in America today which we should be, but we limit it to things that are “unacceptable” by the world’s standard. Racism, exploitation of women and children, and all types of discrimination and/or abuse against another person are situations that the world accepts as being okay for people to be angry over. However, things defined as sin by God, whom we claim to serve, do not make us angry. In some cases people get angry at us if we get angry at the things that angers God! The Scripture affirms God’s righteous anger against sin so we too should be angry at the sin that angers God.
As I have worked on the Bible study lesson and this series on anger, I have had to really examine my life. I won’t share with you how many times my anger has been displaced and displayed for all to see. There were times when I was growing up that I would walk around the house being angry. I would purposely make sure that my family knew that I was mad. My mother would look at me, smile (which angered me more because she was not responding the way I wanted her to) and say “Boy, why you walking around this house looking all swoll up?” I know the word “swoll” is not a word, but that’s what she would ask me. Four or five years ago my baby sister came to visit us and we all went to the mall. I was ready to leave but she and Nikki were not. I immediately started getting angry and my sister Kim said, "there he goes starting to get all swoll up!” I had to turn my back away because I was getting mad but I also did not want them to see me smiling at the memory of what my mother used to say. When I was a teenager I expressed my anger in different ways and it sometimes got me in trouble at home and in school. When I was in the 10th grade I was almost kicked out of school because of my anger but my grades got me a second chance. When I was in the military I had to learn to control my anger when I witnessed injustices so I learned to get quiet, which is the coping mechanism that I use today, so I do not say something I cannot take back. So knowing me the way that I do this message is very much so for me. In this series we will examine the effects of anger, the difference between righteous and unrighteous anger, and what the Scriptures say about anger (especially human anger.)
Let’s begin with our first example of human anger. You all remember the story of Cain and Abel. Let’s read Genesis 4:3-7. “So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:3-7) When you examine what Cain experience, first he was disappointed that God did not accept his offering. We do not know, but for a moment he could have been disappointed or even angry at himself. Regardless, whatever he was feeling festered and his brother became the reminder of God not accepting his offering. Whenever he looked at his brother, he was reminded of his failure versus his brother’s success. Have you ever been there? Someone got the promotion that you wanted and/or deserved and every time you saw that person you were reminded of it so you got angry at that person? God recognized what was going through Cain’s mind and He attempted to guide Cain. He asked “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” Then He told Cain, “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
I believe that God was trying to get Cain to realize for himself that the anger he was feeling was not appropriate, especially since it was being targeted at his brother. God warned Cain that if he did not get control over his feeling that sin was crouching at the door. I want you to visualize that image. A dangerous animal is stalking around your neighborhood and walks pass your door. If it gets in it will harm you and your family. Would you leave your door open in this situation? Would you take the chance of opening the door to see where the animal was located? Absolutely not, you would lock your doors and be on the lookout for it. This is the image that I visualize when I think about the warning God was giving Cain. He was telling Cain that his anger was opening a door to sin. How many doors have we all left opened because of our anger – justified or not. Cain’s anger led to him killing his brother and that’s still happening today. Peter said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) What is the greatest tool that my enemy can use against me? The answer is, “Me, Myself, and I!” You see, if my enemy can get me to act outside of myself, (outside of my self-imposed restrictions based on my love for God), that’s a more powerful victory for him versus using outside forces to bring me down. All he has to do is plant the seed and sit back and watch me allow that seed to germinate within me. Can you see this? We have to be aware that angers open the door to our unseen enemy to use us against ourselves. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) I will touch on this later, but just consider how we would respond to a person when we are angry if we paused and chose to be angry at the spiritual forces influencing the person versus the person. Yeah, I know, some of you would be walking around claiming everyone who disagreed with you must have a demon influencing them. I will come back to this verse later. This morning I want to share with you what anger does to us personally, not what it makes us do to others, but what it actually does to us personally.
How Anger Affects Us Over Time
Anger causes physical effects on our bodies and the longer we are angry the worse the effects are. The feelings of anger may differ from person to person. For example, women are more likely to describe anger slowly building through the body, while men describe it as a fire or a flood raging within them. Culture can also impact how anger is displayed. Regardless it's much like the fight-or-flight response; your body is gearing up for a fight to survive a wrong that's been perpetrated against you. In the brain, the amygdala, the part of the brain that deals with emotion, goes crazy. It wants to do something right now, and the time between what caused you to get angry and the response from the amygdala can be a quarter of a second. But at the same time, blood flow is increasing to the frontal lobe, specifically the part of the brain that's over the left eye. This area controls reasoning and is likely what's keeping you from hurling a vase across the room. These areas generally balance each other out quickly. According to some research, the neurological response to anger lasts less than two seconds and this is why you get a lot of advice about counting to 10 when you’re angry. So what are some of the physical effects of anger on our bodies?
The brain shunts blood away from the gut and towards the muscles, in preparation for physical exertion. Heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increase, the body temperature rises and the skin perspires. The mind is sharpened and focused. The constant flood of stress chemicals and associated metabolic changes that go with recurrent unmanaged anger can eventually cause harm to many different systems of the body. Some of the short and long-term health problems that have been linked to unmanaged anger include: headache, digestion problems (such as abdominal pain), insomnia, increased anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, skin problems (such as eczema), heart attack and stroke. Uncontrolled anger also weakens our immune system; harm our lungs; and will shorten our lives. Uncontrolled anger is very dangerous to our health. The Bible also bears this out. Consider the wisdom captured in the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 14:30 (AMP): “A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.”
Proverbs 17:22 (AMP): “A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
These Scriptures speaks to the effects of anger on the body as well as the benefits of a joyful, peaceful heart. I mentioned earlier that I tend to hold my anger in when I get angry because I am “attempting” to protect those around me. What I have learned is that while my intentions might be good, the outcome is not. If you do an internet search on “repressed anger” you will be surprised by the illnesses and diseases that have been linked to it. This is not something that we can take lightly. I want to close this morning with the ways anger is expressed and I will continue this message next week.
Anger is generally expressed in one of three forms: anger-in, anger-out and anger controlled. Anger-in is turning anger inwards. This method of keeping anger inside has also been described as depression. This method is overwhelmingly observed in women, who feel that society frowns upon angry women. Anger held in can leak out in unproductive, passive-aggressive ways, such as sulking or backhanded sarcasm. Proverbs 17:22 which we I read earlier says, “A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” This speaks directly to the idea of anger-in. Because we hold the anger in there are negative effects on our physical bodies and our mental health. When we hold the anger in, we are still angry and that anger has nowhere to go. We might be smiling on the outside giving the impression that everything is okay, but on the inside we are boiling. Anger held in might be good for those around us but it is very harmful to us individually. So what should we do – let it out? That brings me to the second form, anger-out.
Anger-out is expressing anger outwardly in ways that include physical assault on people or objects and hostile verbal assault. We have all heard “confessions” about how much better people felt after they went off on someone. If you know someone like this you have probably seems them smile and calm down afterwards – not even considering the impact on the person or object their anger was directed towards. People describe the out of control feelings and sense of powerless when they practice both anger-in and anger-out methods of expressing anger. I believe Cain experienced expressions of both anger-in and anger-out. Genesis 4:8 says, “And Cain said to his brother, ‘Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” He was experiencing anger-in when God addressed him and asked him why he was angry. He experienced anger-out when he rose up and killed his brother. Cain’s anger grew within him until he could no longer hold it and he let it out against his brother. The Bible tells us that we are to love one another unlike Cain. 1 John 3:11-12 says, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (NKJV)
The third way anger is expressed is the preferred way, anger controlled. Practicing anger control, or dealing with anger in an appropriate manner, is the best and only way to deal with anger. Consider the following Scriptures:
Proverbs 15:18 says, “A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention.
Proverbs 22:24-25 says, “Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.
Proverbs 29:11 says, “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.”
Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, “Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fool.”
Colossians 3:8 says, “But now you yourselves are to put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.”
Each of these Scriptures speaks to the outcome of anger. If we just meditate on these Scriptures we would find the wisdom to begin asking ourselves these four questions when we get angry:
1. What am I really angry about?
2. Would Jesus be angry over this?
3. If Jesus would be angry about this, how would He respond?
4. Is my response the same as I believe Jesus’ response would be?
Until next week, God bless and keep you.
