Anger
by Debbie Kenny
Anger is an emotion. It is neither good or bad. It is never said it was a sin to be angry. Sin comes when we act on our anger feelings in an inappropriate way.
God's Anger
His anger is appropriate. We are told in scripture that He is slow to anger, his anger is balanced by compassion, and that compassion can turn his heart away from expressing that anger. His anger is never to push away or punish. As believers we know that Christ’s death saves us from ultimately having to face God’s anger at our sins. In Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Because of the blood of Jesus, we are saved from God's wrath.
God is against the rebellion, sin, and desires for others to turn TOWARD him. His goal is always restoration of relationships that have been broken by sin.
Often our human Anger, pushes people away. But, God's Anger brings about righteousness. In James 1:19-20 " My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."
Two Types:
God's Anger
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Man's Ungodly Anger
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Brings about righteousness
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doesn't brings out the righteous life
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slow to
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not compassionate, but self seeking
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leads to life
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will hurt, leads to murder
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refusing to normalize a wicked relationship
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tend to normalize or look good on the outside (just simmer)
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We must look at the patterns of how to deal with ungodly anger in our lives. It is also necessary to look for the triggers in our lives that leads us to express anger in ungodly ways. *I believe we need to replace those triggers with TRUTH.
Four types of wrong anger expressions looking at pots.
MILD
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a few sharp words, nothing too showy
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controlled
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usually self inflicting, stress internally, shame, or redirect anger at a safer place (ie. to family instead of boss)
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boiling over
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actually pushing away, putting anger on something else
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explosion of liquid *tea cup in microwave
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watch out world, not rationally thinking
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Causes of Anger:
1) Hurt: unmet needs or desires, expectations
2) Injustice: violated rights
3) Fear or feeling of loss
4) frustration or intimidation
The greater our expectations are from the reality of a situation, the more likely hood we will feel frustration and move into feeling angry.
We have often set goals for others that they do not have. We only can own our goals.
*Invite them to make it their own goal and listen to them. 
Ungodly anger also frequently occurs when progress toward goal is interrupted.
Ungodly Anger is self based.
My worth, My needs, My security, My convictions = Self protection
Remember, Anger is an emotion that is a signal. The ideal is to pull towards restoration. I need to make good choices when anger arises. I need to STOP. I then need to explore what is going on to clarify the situation.
Then I want to look for a way to use the energy the emotion of anger creates and seek to find a way to express it that would draw the person I am angry at to me, not push them away and risk destroying a relationship.
Good things can happen from feeling angry. But it means learning a whole new approach to expressing our anger.
What is your ANGER TRIGGERS? What is the truth from the Bible that needs to be coupled with that trigger?
