Anger Management

Lately, I have been thinking about how we as humans deal with our anger. Since my boys are out into the world more and more I am beginning to see the need to help them learn how to appropriately deal with those frustrated and overwhelmed feelings that come out as anger.

Do we grow out of our temper tantrums or do we just change how they look? Do we become passive aggressive, calculating revenge, manipulating? Or do we stuff them down trying to ignore those feelings because they aren't Christ-like? In vain of course, because in the flesh it eventually finds a way out. Usually, when you really don't want it to and usually on the people you love the most. In an effort to avoid our adult temper tantrums people medicate their anger, try to drown it, or they might just eat it and everything else. In some of us anger fades into depression. Satan offers so many tempting choices for us to inappropriately deal with our anger. In your anger do not sin (Psalm 4:4 and Ephesians 4:26). Anger in itself is not a sin. We just need to deal with those God-given emotions in a God-glorifying manner.

I was thinking about my own anger issues and asked myself "What really gets me going?" "When do I loose my cool and why?" "Why do I get depressed?" Most of the time, it is when I feel controlled or when I can't control a situation. Simply put, things didn't go MY WAY. Which, go figure, are quite the same triggers for my boys. We want what we want. In the flesh, we are looking to please ourselves. The world sets us up to think we CAN have it our way. I don't want my children to fall into this trap. I so desire them to live a surrendered life. I know they have to see it in me first so, they will follow this blue print we are laying down in their little brains. It is a daily dying of self to accomplish this attainable goal.

The "good news" is... once I enter into a place where I realize I am not in control, ever! When I am reminded I am a servant of a sovereign God, a peace washes over me. His ways are not "my way," His ways are higher than mine. And I am glad I am not in control. I just need to ask Him to help me see things the way He see's them.

I hesitate to talk about our more personal struggles because I want to be a source of encouragement. Honestly, I think y'all probably get tired of hearing how great everything is. Everything isn't perfect it is just that I only seem to blog about the good, not the bad and the ugly. I feel like those of you checking in on us don't get the full picture. Just the carefully chosen cropped one.