How Do You Respond to Anger?

Anger is a universal emotion. Even Jesus got angry.Mark 3: 1-6 says that when he saw the indifference of people in the synagogue to a man’s suffering, he looked around at them in anger. Their stubborn and callous hearts aroused righteous anger in His heart. And his righteous anger led to action. Ignoring the crowd’s disapproval, Jesus healed the man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath.I wish it weren’t true, but most of our anger is not of the righteous kind where we stand against injustice and insensitivity. Instead, too often our anger is because we don’t get our way or things don’t work out as we wish. When this happens, our response tends to be one of the following. See which you identify with:• WITHDRAWAL: Do you shut down, turn away from the person who has upset you, become cold, indifferent, and non-communicative? Maybe become passive/aggressive?• TURN IT INWARD: Do you stew, rehearse the offence, hold a grudge, and allow it to eat away at your enjoyment of life?• BLAME: Do you lash out, accuse, or find fault with others?Proverbs 14:17 gives us a word of caution when it comes to handling our anger: “A quick-tempered man (woman) does foolish things.” How true! As a powerful antidote to doing something foolish when you’re angry, here’s counsel worth memorizing and practicing:"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” Proverbs 15:1.Here’s my question which I hope you will answer below in the comment section: When have you found this to be true in your life?In my next blog I’ll give you some questions to ask yourself about what makes you angry and how to handle it.