Anger is a very tricky emotion sometimes. God has given us the ability to be angry and yet it seems like the world always wants to stop us from feeling it. In all honesty, anger has a real God given purpose. Without it we would find it much harder to discover the places inside of us that hurt. Anger expresses our emotion of feeling slighted, stepped on, rejected, hurt, and many other things. Sometimes our anger can reveal things that we never realized were there in us. Anyone who lives in this world will experience things that will potentially cause emotional issues that can fester deep inside the inner parts. Often these things live in us until something or someone comes along to bring it to the surface. If we stop anger from happening all together then we stop our ability to discover those things that anger will reveal in us.

God tells us to “anger but sin not”. This means basically, “By all means be angry, but do not allow it to flow out of control or get out of balance”. If anger can be used to mindfully bring forward an important issue that needs to come to the surface so it can be dealt with, then it is anger well spent. The hard issues come if the balance of anger goes beyond its true purpose. Once anger has revealed that there is a problem that is coming up, then the real tricky part is to allow it to just simmer enough to uncover it.

The next time anger comes to the surface, by all means express the issue because it hurts you more not to. Then mindfully stop and examine the issue that is behind it. Ask God to help you discern what the anger means and why it is present. Really, anger can be your confident friend if you allow it to. Not all anger is bad, so keep that out of your mind. No guilt for expressing the truth of what is inside of you, even if the truth seems a bit misguided. This is what life is experienced for! You will find a new confidence in this process and a new empowerment as you learn to use your God given emotions to bring real healing to yourself and others!

In addition, never go to bed angry! Meditate, pray, and allow yourself to be settled before sleeping. Keeping anger inside all through the night will cause terrible issue in your health. This would be anger out of balance! Keep yourself on even keel. Learning to manage the waves of life’s emotional ocean is a very lofty endeavor, but well worth the journey!

Ephesians 4:26 (American Standard Version)

²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: