Anger management \u2013 that elusive skill we all think we have until someone cuts us off in traffic. Road rage, flipping out, losing our cool \u2013 it\u2019s like a daily soap opera on our highways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s not kid ourselves; anger isn\u2019t just for the politicians or those high-profile leaders we see ranting on TV. Even us everyday, well-meaning folks have our moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take, for instance, when I am cut off in traffic by a driver who is evidently an Indy 500 race car driver. I didn’t take it. Instinct kicked in \u2013 my hand found the horn, and maybe I woke the dead, or at least my sleeping husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before we get too comfortable with our excuses, let’s look at what Jesus had to say about anger. He didn\u2019t mince words: \u201cUnder the laws of Moses the rule was, \u2018If you murder, you must die.\u2019 But I tell you that if you are angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment!” (Matthew 5:21-22). Talk about raising the bar! Jesus likened unchecked anger to murder. Yikes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
History shows we\u2019re not the first to struggle with anger. Remember the apostles James and John, nicknamed the \u201cSons of Thunder\u201d? I\u2019m guessing they weren\u2019t called that because of their gentle whispers. And then there\u2019s Paul, the apostle, who wasn\u2019t shy about letting his anger show when he felt the gospel was being misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what about the riots and hatred we see today? It\u2019s like a bad reality show \u2013 people tearing each other apart over politics, race, and social status. The scenes are heartbreaking and remind us of the deep-seated issues that anger can stir up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re called to rise above this madness. The Bible is clear: \u201cThe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control\u201d (Galatians 5:22-23). That\u2019s our real anger management program \u2013 and guess what? It\u2019s free!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think of Moses, who in a fit of rage, broke the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Anger is nothing new, but the solution has always been the same: drawing on the Holy Spirit for self-control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s be real \u2013 who wants to be part of the red-faced, ranting crowd? Not me. I want to align myself with those striving to follow Christ, being self-aware and God-aware, especially when those anger triggers hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So next time you feel the heat rising, take a breath and remember the cool breeze of the Holy Spirit that cools us off with His peace that passes understanding. (Philippians 4:7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peace Maker or Anger Maker — I choose peace!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anger management \u2013 that elusive skill we all think we have until someone cuts us off in traffic. Road rage, flipping out, losing our cool \u2013 it\u2019s like a daily soap opera on our highways. But let\u2019s not kid ourselves; anger isn\u2019t just for the politicians or those high-profile leaders we see ranting on TV.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2670,13536,1210,1769,29949,1392,3403,40,29954,29951,29952,3797,44,29953,11729,29950,29955,3802,88],"class_list":["post-20237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anger","tag-anger-management","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-cut-off-in-traffic","tag-facebook","tag-fruit-of-the-spirit","tag-inspiration","tag-james-and-john","tag-laws-of-moses","tag-matthew-521-22","tag-moses","tag-peace","tag-raising-the-bar","tag-road-rage","tag-soap-opera","tag-sons-of-thunder","tag-ten-commandments","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20239,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20237\/revisions\/20239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}