Selwyn looks at how Nehemiah handled his anger when he heard about the harsh treatment of the poor.
He makes a number of good points: ” … people handle anger in several different ways. Some get angry but convince themselves they are not. These people live in (unhealthy) denial. … Others feel anger and proceed to deal with it by dumping it on everyone around them . Then there are some who experience anger but suppress it for awhile and later take their feelings out on those they know are afraid of them.” And, if there is no other person around they might ‘kick a dog’, that is, they take their anger out on someone or something.
Selwyn then gives us guidelines on how we may handle our anger. “First, it is important to acknowledge the anger. Second, we must choose not to allow it to get out of control. Third, we should carefully and prayerfully think through the best way of dealing with the situation which aroused the anger in the first place.”
I have found that the best way for me to handle my anger is to pray about the issue, seeking God’s help to take the acute sting of the problem away and to ensure that I don’t do anything about it, until the following day – it has often amazed me that what seemed impossible in the heat of battle, becomes possible to resolve, after a night’s rest. It’s giving God’s love time to heal the emotional wounds; and time to formulate a peaceful solution with the Holy Spirit’s help.
When very angry
Selwyn looks at how Nehemiah handled his anger when he heard about the harsh treatment of the poor.
He makes a number of good points: ” … people handle anger in several different ways. Some get angry but convince themselves they are not. These people live in (unhealthy) denial. … Others feel anger and proceed to deal with it by dumping it on everyone around them . Then there are some who experience anger but suppress it for awhile and later take their feelings out on those they know are afraid of them.” And, if there is no other person around they might ‘kick a dog’, that is, they take their anger out on someone or something.
Selwyn then gives us guidelines on how we may handle our anger. “First, it is important to acknowledge the anger. Second, we must choose not to allow it to get out of control. Third, we should carefully and prayerfully think through the best way of dealing with the situation which aroused the anger in the first place.”
I have found that the best way for me to handle my anger is to pray about the issue, seeking God’s help to take the acute sting of the problem away and to ensure that I don’t do anything about it, until the following day – it has often amazed me that what seemed impossible in the heat of battle, becomes possible to resolve, after a night’s rest. It’s giving God’s love time to heal the emotional wounds; and time to formulate a peaceful solution with the Holy Spirit’s help.
How do you handle your anger?