In Freedom from Anger Freedom from Angerchallenging. However, home was not a rest—it was into a national conference with 300 people. It‟s not good when your hands are shaking,
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Ross Wakeley
Freedom
from Anger
In Freedom from Anger, you‟ll discover:
Signs that anger may be an issue in our life
What happens if anger isn‟t dealt with effectively
Scriptural insights about overcoming anger today
The Pharisee spirit and the Spirit of Jesus
Principles for walking in freedom from anger
How Jesus lived above anger wrecking His life
Living facedown before God as the place of refuge
Practical self-care strategies for freedom from anger
Scripture quotations are taken from
The Holy Bible, New International Version ® Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993-2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group
Photo acknowledgements: Passion of the Christ, R Wakeley.
Copyright © Ross Wakeley 2009
2 23
The emotional, spiritual and physical
demands of the three consecutive events had a twist. I also faced
some serious issues that were challenging. However, home was
not a rest—it was into a national
conference with 300 people.
It‟s not good when your
hands are shaking, chest tight and vocal chords feel
strangled. It can happen when you‟re really angry.
It‟s all happened to me.
Another man had done a fantastic job in preparation,
but I hadn‟t been ready to give him the role emotionally. Early Saturday, I lost it. Blew a fuse! The whole body
shaking, loss of control—it was pathetic. Without seeking to be defensive, it‟s easy—with hindsight—to see the why.
An accumulation of multiple ministry events with a range
of unprocessed issues meant I was a walking time bomb. I exploded, totally unfairly on the conference manager.
It was a new insight into what Paul says in Ephesians 4:26,27—Do not let the sun go down while you are still
angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. I had to deal with my failure and we sorted it out.
In 2007, over a six week period, I‟d been involved in
running healing training in the Philippines and then an Impact Nations compassion trip among the poor with a
team of thirty people. Part of that time we were protected by a heavily armed militia in case we were kidnapped for
ransom. Then we ended the 22 day odyssey with a healing conference in Manila and flew back to Oz for a conference.
Anger affects us emotionally,
physically, spiritually and mentally. Anger stirs up
adrenalin in our body. It‟s vital that chemical is
released or our health will
be negatively affected.
We need to intentionally
release the anger by doing something physical. Walk the
dog around the block. Kick a ball. Play a physical game.
Dig the garden. Doing something positive and practical helps release the stored adrenalin and gets us looking at the beauty
of God‟s creation. Grumpiness shifts to smiles and joy!
Other practical self-care strategies include:
Ensuring we take holidays and regular days off. That
means the mobile goes off. Our security is not in what the boss thinks of us or demands we do. It‟s in how
God sees us and who He says we are.
If we feel we‟re about to „blow a fuse‟, before then, make
a statement: „I need some space. I‟m going for a walk.‟
Don‟t slam the door on the way out. Once outside, flex the muscles to release the tension. Breath deeply.
God didn‟t make us to do life solo. Talk to friends about
what is triggering anger and invite them to speak truth in
to our life and who will support us in living out the Biblical principles in this booklet. We need mates on the journey.
Seeing a Christian counsellor or visit a healing ministry
for God to see some deep releasing work in you.
Time each day in God‟s presence is a life-saver as He will renew our mind, rebuild our spirit and refresh our heart.
4 21
Judgment is held in the mind
and/or spirit towards people who we perceive have hurt
us. This can act to hold us in spiritual chains and acts as a
block to relationships that are real, vulnerable and lifegiving.
Spiritual signs of anger:
Anger that is not dealt with will slowly erode the inner
spirit of joy, peace, love, etc as the focus of our life shifts from Jesus to the object or the person that
triggers our anger.
Our mind assembles a growing collection of things said
and done against us that slowly weigh us down and rob away spiritual freedom and from shifting to a higher
place in God.
Our anger robs us of all that God wants to release into
our spirit, but we have become „polluted‟. Frustrated that God is not „fixing‟ the problem, we pull back from
being in His presence through soaking, worship, reading Scripture, listening to His voice and a hunger
for intimacy with Jesus.
If anger isn‟t effectively resolved:
We give Satan legal right of entry
into our life as we have opened a doorway for him to attack us. Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 4:8
Our anger can shift to rage, violence or turn inwards to
depression, even suicide—as we either blame ourselves
or we can‟t see an exit route from the situation.
The more we experientially know—not in our mind, but in our
heart, the core of our being—that we are deeply loved by the King, by our friend, the more anger cannot keep a hold on us.
Mostly what God does is
love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love.
Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious
but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get some-
thing from us but to give everything of himself to us.
Ephesians 5:2 (Message)
May Jesus himself and God our
Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of
unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (Message)
This is how God showed
his love for us: God sent his only Son into the
world so we might live through him...If we love
one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his
love becomes complete in us—perfect love…He's
given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.
Every one who confesses that Jesus is God's Son
participates continuously in an intimate relation-
ship with God. 1 John
4:9, 12-15 (Message)
Better is one day in your courts than a
thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
dwell in the tents of the wicked. Psalm 84:10
6 19
How does anger damage our spirit?
The soul of each person is
made up of our mind, will and emotions—see James 2:26. If
our spirit is crushed, we use our soul to protect the spirit.
We become a captive, when God wants us to be free.
The human spirit may be crushed from abuse, hurt and
betrayal that damages the core of our being. This can result in us having a timid spirit [1 Timothy 1:7]; an overwhelmed
spirit [Psalm 142:3,4] as we feel trapped by people‟s expectations and are unable to be ourself; a defiled spirit
[2 Cor. 7:1]; or a broken spirit [Pro 15:13, Job 17:1].
Emotional life—internal reactions + external behaviour
1. HURT occurs
whenever we are made to feel small,
empty or insecure. We feel a loss of
control over our life.
2. ANGER is the
culturally acceptable way for men to
respond to being hurt. It‟s an attempt
to regain control.
3. RAGE is the
body‟s experience of anger. Adrenalin
floods our system and our body has
physical symptoms.
4. VIOLENCE is a
desperate attempt to regain control
over a situation where the body‟s
rage is vented in
a public way.
As a person acts out this cycle, usually we‟re unwilling to
acknowledge that we are responsible for our behaviour.
The enemy likes to use
anger to have us live in defeat. God is our refuge,
fortress...He is our high place, our secret place
where the enemy cannot touch us. If the enemy
cannot find us, he cannot hurt us. God has provided
a secret place in Him for us that we access by be-
ing face down before Him.
As we‟re facedown before God,
He reveals to us who HE is and WHO we are. Come, let us bow
down and worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for
he is God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under
his care. Psalm 95:6,7
Dealing with our Anger
God never forces us to deal with our stuff. As we‟re willing,
He‟ll take us on steps in the journey of freedom from anger.
The world‟s way of dealing with anger is to rise in reaction and
aggression. The response of God‟s people is to be radically different to that of our culture. We move to a position of rest
and surrender. We ‟bow down before the Almighty‟. We place no trust in the ‟weapons‟ of self-reliance, fear, anger or our
skills. Our posture is one of resting in God—in His presence, grace, mercy, holy awe and favour. From that position, we
look to God for victory and empowering to live above anger.
8 17
Option One: Spirit of the Pharisee
1. Quick to pick up a rock and pass judgement on another person.
2. Condemn those people who doesn‟t
fit the „box‟ of what‟s acceptable.
3. Take perverse pleasure when another Christian fails and declare, „I told you
so‟ to justify their judgement and condemnation of the person.
4. World events that are disruptive cause the Pharisee spirit
to react in fear, anxiety, criticism. What happens in the natural exposes what is in the heart [see 1 Samuel 16:7].
5. Speak negative words and curses that are released in the spiritual realm and act to crush those spoken against.
6. Tell others to live in righteousness, but fail to live out what is spoken and fail to observe the hypocrisy of either
their attitude or actions [see Matthew 23:27, 28].
Along with Scripture‟s revelation about what anger does in
„the real‟ of every day, each Christian makes choices about our response to situations and people. There are two options:
Option Two:
Spirit of Christ Jesus
1. Choose to not take
offence—„He who is without sin cast
the first stone.‟ [John 7:7]
2. Speak out and release grace, acceptance and freedom that isn‟t framed by compromise. Holy Spirit enables
us to really hear a person who has views that differ from ours. Stay humble.
Easy to say. Hard to live. God invites us look beyond what is
happening in the „now‟ that is triggering our anger and look to Jesus—who He is and what He is doing in His world and in us.
The apostle Paul, who experienced incredible suffering that
would lead any normal bloke to furious anger [2 Corinthians 11:23-28] shares this insight from his life—
We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light
and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
Our life is a journey. A journey of transformation: if we will
allow God to do in us what will set us free and Jesus shines.
I identified myself completely with Jesus...I have been crucified
with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you...Christ lives in
me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (Message)
The story is told of a man whingeing to God about people who
got him angry. The Lord responded; „Come a little closer‟. As he does, some of the flesh falls off, but he still whinges and
God says, „Come a little closer‟. More flesh falls off. Then he
asks: „Why do you want me to come closer?‟ God says, „I want to see how much like my Son you‟ve become.‟ It‟s our choice.
10 15
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through
his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil
behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ‟s physical
body through death to present you holy in his sight, with out blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:19-22
The place of real
exchange is the Cross. We only come
to the Cross from a Spirit given conviction
that we have an issue and that we need to
accept the only real solution:Jesus!
Ongoing transformation comes
from a revolutionary and super- natural work of God’s Spirit in us:
Our thinking radically changing
to become the mind of Jesus—
see Romans 12:1,2.
Living in the security and real
presence of God. In Him, all that is of the world and of our
self is tripped away and we walk in purity and freedom.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom. We...are being transformed into his
likeness with ever-increasing glory. 2 Corinthians 3:17,18
B: Respond to the person
We step back into God‟s love,
hear His voice and refuse to
allow the event to contaminate our spirit or mind.
We invite the Holy Spirit to
do a fresh work in our heart.
To burn out the rubbish, pain and stuff that seeks to
consume us and invite the Spirit to burn in more of Jesus‟
character. We are freer.
We position ourself nearer to
Jesus and hear more of His
voice, have a deeper internal security and stand in heavenly
realm. We refuse to allow life
events to set our agenda. We respond in unselfish love.
What Peter discovered will impact us in dealing with the stuff
that triggers our anger. In life, an event occurs and we can:
A: React to the situation/person
We focus on the event, the hurt,
shame, how we were wronged. Our mind and spirit brood on it
all and are corrupted. Joy goes.
The relationship is poisoned and
we process subsequent events through the lens of anger and hurt.
Our emotional walls go up for self protection. This blocks any healing as it‟s a survival tactic.
We are choosing to not get well. We can shift from anger to rage which as we‟ve seen is self destructive and damages
other relationships that just increases our deep inner pain.
12 13
Amazingly, Jesus not only sees the situation and why the
person is angry. He demonstrated a whole new way of living that gives us hope in rising above our anger. Jesus, this
great High Priest with ready access to God—is not out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and
testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right
up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. Hebrews 4:14-16 [Message]
In our anger, we so easily
become consumed by our pain that we avoid seeing the
person—who is triggering pain for us—with the eyes of Jesus.
God‟s Word is clear that He sees people as we really are.
Jesus said to them, „You are the ones who justify yourselves
in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is
detestable in God‟s sight‟. Luke 16:15 Jesus sees their pain and the reality of why the person is lashing out at others:
seemingly oblivious to the consequences of their actions.
Jesus lived this reality. Look at
His response to Peter. Jesus washes his feet and a few hours
later, that mate „does a runner‟ when the pressure‟s on. If I was
Jesus, I‟d surrender to my anger, sense of betrayal, hurt and pain.
Not Jesus. He rose above His own stuff to see Peter‟s pain and
to understand. Rather than allow His spirit to be full of anger,
Jesus had heaven‟s perspective and sought Peter: grace, love and forgiveness overwhelmed humanity—John 21:15-19.
How did Jesus rise above anger? How did He gain freedom?
There are a range of insights to explore in these questions
and part of the answer has to do with what is „below ground level‟ in Jesus‟ life and compare that to our own life.
Men find it
the hardest to really share
their heart: vulnerability
is risky as the other bloke
may take advantage of
you and so we stick to hiding.
If our core
needs are not met, then
we‟ll do many
things to get them met and
if we fail, anger is an
expression of
our frustration. From an early age, we seek to
have our core needs met, but also seek to be validated by
those who we most value in our life—parents, siblings and peers.
The tension: often we fail to get
that emotional validation. This is a fundamental unmet need by
many people in our culture.
Visible Visible
behaviourbehaviour
20% of 20% of
who we who we
really are really are
CoreCore needsneeds
OurOur valuesvalues andand beliefsbeliefs
What we What we
think think
about about
and how and how
we feelwe feel
To survive, to To survive, to
be esteemed, be esteemed,
respected, respected,
loved, valuedloved, valued
80% of 80% of
who we who we
really really
are is are is
hidden hidden
from from
other other
peoplepeople
11 14
Another factor in freedom from anger is where we choose to
live from. Many live from mind and emotion: Jesus lived from a higher place—He lived from the spiritual realm. He refused to
live under the circumstances. As Jesus was positioned in the Father‟s arms of love and in total surrender, He lived over what
was taking place in the natural realm. Action steps include—
Many Christians were raised in a conservative churches:
we study Scriptures and teaching for our mind. We try to live from these truths of God‟s Word, but often fail.
Jesus lived from His spirit—not the mind. It‟s an intentional
process of daily submission of His life so that His spiritual formation overflowed into everyday life. He lived from spirit
conviction and „knowings‟. When faced with a crisis, He knew in His spirit that Father would supernaturally provide.
We‟ve been robbed by the enemy and
by teaching in the church that has not
taught a supernatural Kingdom ethos or equipped us to live as Jesus did.
Living from the spiritual realm grows as we spend time in
the secret place with God. He activates more living from the spirit. It‟s not a „hope so‟ freedom from anger. It‟s
living from a „know so‟ place in God—Ephesians 2:6
Research says only 5% of Christians know and believe
that God loves them all the time. As we allow God‟s Spirit to take scriptures—Zephaniah 3:17, 1 Corinthians 2:9,
Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 3:1—our internal security shifts up.
Where we are in our spirit is where we live from. It‟s
what we pray into and will dictate how we use our time, our money, our focus and emotional energy.
Where may we find validation for our core needs if we can‟t
find it within the culture? The best option is to run into the arms of the One who truly loves us. The LORD appeared to
us...saying: „I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.‟ Jeremiah 31:3
In the past year, God has „birthed‟ a book that is a powerful resource to bypass the mind and speak to the heart about how
God loves us beyond measure. This book helps to heal hearts.
We rob Satan of his ability to get us consumed by our anger and
spiral into deeper pain when we intentionally rest in our Father. As we spend time in His presence, listen to His voice, enjoy His
unconditional love for us, get lost in worshipping Him and allow the glorious truths and promises of His word to permeate our
heart then we discover that He is re-building us from the inside.
Peter proved this true. As he experienced
being in the presence of Jesus and allowed God‟s Spirit to fill and love him at the core
of his life, Peter discovered that used to make him angry just rolled off. The God of
all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little
while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should
be called children of God! And that is what we are! be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:11 John 3:1
9 16
3. Stand with the person in their failure. The Body of Christ acts
to help, rather than the individual feeling alone and cutoff.
4. World events that are disruptive act as a catalyst to draw
more of the character of Jesus to the surface and we retreat deeper into His presence.
5. Refuse to speak out words that have the effect of crushing another. Choose to use words that are building up and speak
truth in love [see 1 Timothy 4:12, James 1:26].
6. Stand for righteousness with humility. Constantly seek the Spirit‟s empowering to live a righteous lifestyle—humanly we have nothing. Seek forgiveness from those we offend.
In Matthew‟s gospel, Jesus confronts the
„spirit of the Pharisee‟ head on—chapter 23:1-39. Shortly before that, He faced
that spirit and His response is brilliant! One of the Pharisees...tested him with
this question:“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ „Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.‟ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: „Love your neighbour as yourself.‟ All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-40
If we discover the „spirit of the Pharisee‟ is ensnaring
our life, with anger acting as a trigger to trap us, how do we gain breakthrough and freedom?
He points to the principle of love as the key to breakthrough.
This isn‟t guilt-driven or performance love: it flows from the truth of God‟s love. Jesus lived love and Scripture reveals it.
As we experience Father’s love, the healing journey starts.
It‟s worth noting that as we
invite God to examine us that as our Maker, He also knows
how we are „wired‟ as a factor in anger. Personality and our
reactions to people and life
situations are intertwined. The world has people who are calm
and placid: little troubles them. Others have a personality that
is quickly aroused to either righteous or unrighteous anger
by perceived and real injustice. He perfectly loves who we are.
A mirror is a good place to start in
God setting us free from anger. So easily in our anger we choose to put
ourself in the seat of judgment and say to another person: „You failed
and you are not acceptable!‟ The
mirror asks us to firstly look at self.
2500 years ago, David showed real wisdom by inviting God
to be „a mirror‟ to his life. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is
any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23,24 God hasn‟t changed. As we invite God to
search us totally, there is a safety in that process as He never speaks condemnation or a ‟You‟re not good enough‟ message.
Along with God „checking us over‟, at a wider level, God
is at work in His world. We are not abandoned and Jesus will at times allow stuff to happen to us that we don‟t enjoy
as the primary thing He‟s doing in us is to work on who we are becoming. He is changing our character so we
become more like Jesus.
7 18
Psalm 4:4—In your anger do not sin; when you are on your
beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Psalm 37:8—Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Proverbs 22:24,25—Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered,
or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.
Proverbs 29:11—A fool gives full vent to his anger,
but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Ecclesiastes 7:9—Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Ephesians 4:26, 27—“In your anger do not sin”:
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
James 1:19—Everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak and slow to become angry.
Matthew 5:22-24—Jesus said, „I tell you that anyone who
is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment... „If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to
your brother; then come and offer your gift.‟
Colossians 3:8-10—Now you must rid yourselves of all such
things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips...you have taken off your old self
with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Not surprising, our Creator knows us intimately and provides a
number of insights about anger in Scripture for reflection:
If we are to rise above the anger that threatens to consume
us, then what Paul teaches is an option: they are commands
that acted on will bring life. The choice to refuse to allow
anger to contaminate our spirit is do the one thing that will
set us free: surrender the anger to Jesus at the Cross.
This is an intentional choice that only we can make.
We‟ll often find that we
need to constantly take our anger to the Cross
as the issues in life may trigger the re-fueling of
anger: it intrudes into our mind, spirit and
emotion. The Cross is the place of exchange.
Don't grieve God.
Don't break his heart. His Holy
Spirit, moving and breathing in
you, is the most
intimate part of your life, making
you fit for him self. Don't take
such a gift for granted.
Everything...connected with that old way of life has
to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it!
Go ahead and be angry. You do well
to be angry—but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't
stay angry. Don't go to bed angry. Don't give the Devil that kind
of foothold in your life.
Take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life,
a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
Be gentle with one another,
sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as
God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:22-32 (Message)
5 20
This chart—based on research—illustrates the journey we
can walk if anger is operating unchecked within us:
“If you judge people you
have no time to love them.”
Mother Theresa
We may also displace our anger into:
Projection of our stuff onto other people—usually this is
onto those we love, as we use them to process our anger.
Destructive behaviour to „soothe‟ the internal pain. This
may be overeating; overuse of coffee, alcohol; addictions like porn; over exercising linked with anorexia or bulimia.
Escapist behaviour to avoid the pain—this includes drugs;
excessive TV or Net use through surfing, blogs and chatrooms; hobbies that get obsessive, etc.
Stress
0 100
Flight or Fight
Problem
to solve
Self protection
Win or
loose
Violence Rage
Distress
The more intense our anger the more we slide into distress
and out of self control. Assess where you are at right now.
50
Rather than allowing anger to be the
dominant reality, God enables us to celebrate life. Invite God‟s spirit to
stimulate our mind, emotions and spirit to a fresh awareness of Father‟s
love so that it keeps being the focus.
Celebrate God all day, every day.
I mean, revel in him!...Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know
your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything
coming together for good, will come and settle you down.
It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at
the centre of your life...You'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic,
compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Philippians
4:4-8 [Message] Such refreshing truth and wisdom for life.
Anger tracks our mind, emotion and spirit on the downhill road
of brooding on the offence as we have been wronged or treated inappropriately. We feel unappreciated or our worth is crushed.
The impact of what was said or done is magnified as we‟re taking our worth from a person‟s view of us. We are looking for
worth from people we value, who we have in the „grandstand‟
of our life. When they don‟t affirm us that stirs up pain and anger.
A major transition occurs when
we give up seeking the praise of man and choose to live for an
audience of one. God is the one who truly validates, loves and
affirms us. His spirit enables us to
progressively shift to this thinking.
3 22
That experience highlighted what lots
of people are dealing with: a whole lot of internalised anger. This issue of
anger is both real and huge. Social researchers like Hugh McKay find that
around the nation, if they just scratch
the surface with people, then „boom‟: people are ready to explode with the
anger that‟s bottled up in them.
Physical signs include:
We want to get away from the situation
Irritated, sad or depressed
Guilty, resentful or anxious
Like striking out verbally or physically
Getting sarcastic
Losing our sense of humor
Negative thinking clutters our mind
Struggle to calm ourself in an argument
Feeling out of control and overwhelmed
Signs that Anger may be an issue in our life—
Clenching the jaws or grinding
of the teeth
Headache or dizziness
Stomach ache, muscles tense
Increased and rapid heart rate
Sweating, especially of palms
Feeling hot in the neck/face
Shaking or trembling
Raising our voice or beginning
to yell, scream or cry
Emotional signs of anger are feeling:
Jesus is the ultimate role model of dealing with anger. He lived
in a realm where He was so immersed in the Father‟s love and voice that it overshadowed
all else so that stuff in the natural realm bounced off
Him and didn‟t get into His mind or spirit. This reality
is seen in how Jesus acted before His arrest. Knowing
the agony of the Cross, Jesus prayed for us. His
thoughts were on you.
„I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that
the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as
we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me...Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you,
and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in
order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them‟ John 17:20-26
Jesus is with us in the journey of freedom from angerJesus is with us in the journey of freedom from anger
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