Anger Is Excessive or Uncontrolled If It Leads To:
• Outbursts of temper or bad language.
• Bitterness, resentment, and hostility (the urge to "get even").
• Inner turmoil—the loss of one's sense of tranquillity and well-being. Do I have the nagging feeling that my attitude is displeasing to God, or that I "give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27)?
• Harm to other people. Does the anger negatively affect my testimony as others observe my bad responses? Are they victims of those responses, physically or emotionally?
How Can We Learn to Control Anger?
1. Don't interpret everything as a personal offense, oversight, or hurt. At the same time, try to pinpoint the things that cause you to become excessively angry.
2. Make your attitudes and responses a matter for serious prayer. Pray also about the irritating behavior of others that has caused your anger. Remember that God uses people and circumstances to refine our character. We may have many rough edges that need to be filed down!
3. Regularly confess excessive anger as sin: "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26, NIV). Learn to balance the books at least by the end of each day.
4. Realize that the Christian must learn to cope with two natures, each striving for supremacy. We must learn to practice the "put off—put on" principle of Ephesians 4:22–24 (NIV):
A. "Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires" (verse 22, emphasis added).
B. "Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness" (verse 24, emphasis added).
C. The effect of practicing the "put off—put on" principle is to "be
made new in the attitude of your minds" (verse 23; see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
5. Strive to focus your anger away from yourself, to the problems that are causing it.
6. Surrender each day to the Holy Spirit: "Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Galatians 5:16, NIV).
7. Let the Word of God permeate your life as you read, study, and