Anger Chapter 1
As I have mentioned, your anger is telling you of a "problem"
inside you. If you don't remove the "problem," then your
anger will grow and become more unmanageable.
Let me ask you a question: when you have an outburst of
anger, what is the trigger:
The answer: something happens to you that you don't like.
Perhaps you can't find your car keys, or someone cuts you
off in traffic, or your electric bill is higher than expected. You
fill in the blanks.
You might ask: "Isn't that normal?"
Of course it is "normal." All of us would be angry at the guy
who cut us off in traffic. But that doesn't mean that it is not a
problem. "Road rage" sometimes leads to violence.
I would propose to you that when we get angry at the other
driver, we are in judgment of them. Let me give you an
example from my own life of an anger problem, and the
solution. I think the power of the solution will surprise you.
My "Dog Story"
I am a jogger, and I live on the side of a mountain. In the
winter it is icy, and I can't run here; because I will fall and
break something. Therefore I drive 4 miles to town. There is
a street that is about 1 1/2 miles out and 1 1/2 miles back that
is plowed and sanded and does not have much traffic. That
is my running track in the winter.
One day a few years ago I was almost at the far end of the
run when two mid-sized dogs ran out after me. I have
learned that you don't run from dogs, so I turned on them
and I shouted,
"Hey, you get back there."
They skidded to a stop. The owner was a woman who
was standing on the sidewalk. She said,
"Hey, don't talk to my dogs like that."
I said, "Lady, you have to be kidding me. We are in town,
there is a leash law here. Your dogs shouldn't be here in the
street."
She called her dogs and went inside.
As I continued my run, I was very upset.
I thought, "This is the only convenient place I have to run,
and I'm not going to let them spoil that. What will I do about
it? I know what. I have a foot long steel bar in my garage. I'll
carry that. Then when they come out, I'll take care of them."
Then I thought again. It wasn't really the dogs' fault, and
I'd probably get in trouble if I hurt them. Then what can I do
instead?
"I know what I'll do," I thought. "I'll carry my cell phone.
Then when they come out after me, I'll grab one of them by
the collar and call the dog warden. Then she'll get a ticket,
and that should fix her."
I finished my run, drove home, took a shower, and went to
my office. As I sat down, I was still chewing over this
situation. As I grumbled over it, I got the distinct impression
that the Lord was tapping me on the shoulder. I knew what
He wanted: He wanted me to forgive the woman. I didn't
want to forgive her, and argued with the Lord.
"But she was so thoughtless. She had no right to let her
dogs loose, etc, etc, etc."
Eventually I realized I was going to lose the argument. I
reluctantly agreed to forgive her, though I still didn't want to.
I was right, and she was wrong.
Initially as I prayed it was pretty mechanical and wooden.
However, as I prayed, gradually I calmed down; and the
forgiveness became more real. I forgave her, asked the Lord
to forgive me for judging her. I asked Him to take out the
bitter root I had just planted, to cleanse that place, and to fill it
with His Holy Spirit.
As I prayed, I began to recognize that she had a
permanent scowl on her face. It also occurred to me that a
healthy person would have said something like,
"I'm sorry, sir. Are you alright? Did my dogs scare you?"
I realized that she was a wounded and unhappy person. I
felt compassion for her, and I began to pray for her. I
suspected that she might not know the Lord, and I began to
pray for her salvation.
Suddenly it was as though I was struck by lightning. The
change in my mindset was stark. I realized that I was now
seeing her the way the Lord sees her. I wasn't praying for
her salvation because it was the "Christian thing to do." I
was praying for her because I saw her pain and neediness.
I realized that a miracle had occurred!
Before I prayed, I was a bit nuts. I was on the throne, she
was wrong, and I was sure I was right. I was in the mind of
the "flesh." Bad fruit (my plans to make her pay) was coming
from that bad root.
After I prayed, I saw her neediness and wounding. I was
now seeing her as Christ saw her. I now had the mind of
Christ. Jesus was now in me where the bitter root had
previously been planted, and that new good root was
producing good fruit (my compassion for her). I wasn't
trying to see her with eyes of compassion. I simply did.
When we forgive and Jesus forgives us, a miracle
occurs. It is not something we can accomplish on our own.
We can repress our anger, or try to be nice; but we can't
change what is inside us. Only the blood of Jesus can
accomplish that change. And He does it! He came and died
and rose again to make this possible.
Let me explain about what has happened inside you when
you got angry about something.
Click here to go on.
I think you will find information here about your anger that
you won't find anyplace else.
My discussions about "anger" on this website are
adaptations from my book, "I Will Give You Rest." There you
will find a more in-depth discussion about our struggles as
Christians, and the cure that Jesus has provided for us.
Please feel free to spend as much time as you like
on the website.
Copyright 2003 Edward Kurath
As I have mentioned, your anger is telling you of a "problem"
inside you. If you don't remove the "problem," then your
anger will grow and become more unmanageable.
Let me ask you a question: when you have an outburst of
anger, what is the trigger:
The answer: something happens to you that you don't like.
Perhaps you can't find your car keys, or someone cuts you
off in traffic, or your electric bill is higher than expected. You
fill in the blanks.
You might ask: "Isn't that normal?"
Of course it is "normal." All of us would be angry at the guy
who cut us off in traffic. But that doesn't mean that it is not a
problem. "Road rage" sometimes leads to violence.
I would propose to you that when we get angry at the other
driver, we are in judgment of them. Let me give you an
example from my own life of an anger problem, and the
solution. I think the power of the solution will surprise you.
My "Dog Story"
I am a jogger, and I live on the side of a mountain. In the
winter it is icy, and I can't run here; because I will fall and
break something. Therefore I drive 4 miles to town. There is
a street that is about 1 1/2 miles out and 1 1/2 miles back that
is plowed and sanded and does not have much traffic. That
is my running track in the winter.
One day a few years ago I was almost at the far end of the
run when two mid-sized dogs ran out after me. I have
learned that you don't run from dogs, so I turned on them
and I shouted,
"Hey, you get back there."
They skidded to a stop. The owner was a woman who
was standing on the sidewalk. She said,
"Hey, don't talk to my dogs like that."
I said, "Lady, you have to be kidding me. We are in town,
there is a leash law here. Your dogs shouldn't be here in the
street."
She called her dogs and went inside.
As I continued my run, I was very upset.
I thought, "This is the only convenient place I have to run,
and I'm not going to let them spoil that. What will I do about
it? I know what. I have a foot long steel bar in my garage. I'll
carry that. Then when they come out, I'll take care of them."
Then I thought again. It wasn't really the dogs' fault, and
I'd probably get in trouble if I hurt them. Then what can I do
instead?
"I know what I'll do," I thought. "I'll carry my cell phone.
Then when they come out after me, I'll grab one of them by
the collar and call the dog warden. Then she'll get a ticket,
and that should fix her."
I finished my run, drove home, took a shower, and went to
my office. As I sat down, I was still chewing over this
situation. As I grumbled over it, I got the distinct impression
that the Lord was tapping me on the shoulder. I knew what
He wanted: He wanted me to forgive the woman. I didn't
want to forgive her, and argued with the Lord.
"But she was so thoughtless. She had no right to let her
dogs loose, etc, etc, etc."
Eventually I realized I was going to lose the argument. I
reluctantly agreed to forgive her, though I still didn't want to.
I was right, and she was wrong.
Initially as I prayed it was pretty mechanical and wooden.
However, as I prayed, gradually I calmed down; and the
forgiveness became more real. I forgave her, asked the Lord
to forgive me for judging her. I asked Him to take out the
bitter root I had just planted, to cleanse that place, and to fill it
with His Holy Spirit.
As I prayed, I began to recognize that she had a
permanent scowl on her face. It also occurred to me that a
healthy person would have said something like,
"I'm sorry, sir. Are you alright? Did my dogs scare you?"
I realized that she was a wounded and unhappy person. I
felt compassion for her, and I began to pray for her. I
suspected that she might not know the Lord, and I began to
pray for her salvation.
Suddenly it was as though I was struck by lightning. The
change in my mindset was stark. I realized that I was now
seeing her the way the Lord sees her. I wasn't praying for
her salvation because it was the "Christian thing to do." I
was praying for her because I saw her pain and neediness.
I realized that a miracle had occurred!
Before I prayed, I was a bit nuts. I was on the throne, she
was wrong, and I was sure I was right. I was in the mind of
the "flesh." Bad fruit (my plans to make her pay) was coming
from that bad root.
After I prayed, I saw her neediness and wounding. I was
now seeing her as Christ saw her. I now had the mind of
Christ. Jesus was now in me where the bitter root had
previously been planted, and that new good root was
producing good fruit (my compassion for her). I wasn't
trying to see her with eyes of compassion. I simply did.
When we forgive and Jesus forgives us, a miracle
occurs. It is not something we can accomplish on our own.
We can repress our anger, or try to be nice; but we can't
change what is inside us. Only the blood of Jesus can
accomplish that change. And He does it! He came and died
and rose again to make this possible.
Let me explain about what has happened inside you when
you got angry about something.
Click here to go on.
I think you will find information here about your anger that
you won't find anyplace else.
My discussions about "anger" on this website are
adaptations from my book, "I Will Give You Rest." There you
will find a more in-depth discussion about our struggles as
Christians, and the cure that Jesus has provided for us.
Please feel free to spend as much time as you like
on the website.
Copyright 2003 Edward Kurath
Divinely Designed
Being changed into the image of Jesus
Being changed into the image of Jesus
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
