BE ANGRY

Yesterday I published a blog about Anger, and I was grateful for the feedback. Due to all of your positive feedback I wanted to keep the discussion going...

I am sure when you saw the title of this post you thought "why could Starr possibly say for us to Be Angry". Well, I believe all feelings have a purpose. I am convinced that Anger was placed within our Souls to warn us. Whether Anger is warning us that something isn't right, that we should leave a situation or that we're not being heard there is purpose we can find in our Anger. The Anger is not the issue, what we do with the anger is.

To have a proper foundation, let's start with the Bible (where it all started).

Ephesians 4:26 tells us

Be angry and do not sin.

Did the Bible just say, "Be Angry"? Yes! It did! Why? Because the Anger is not the problem it is what we do with the Anger. This scripture tells us we can Be Angry, but we are not to sin in our Anger. For example, yesterday I did sin. I sinned against my children in the way I responded in my anger. I apologized to them and needed to repent' however, what could I have done differently? I should have taken a pause and evaluated what the Anger was trying to tell me.

In yesterday's blog I mentioned running late and my kids asking my questions they already knew the answer to. What I was really frustrated about was the fact that I had an early morning meeting, and I was unprepared. I should have picked the kids clothes out the night before so that we could leave home earlier, and I didn't do that. I must reassert myself with my son to avoid him asking me questions more than once trying to get me to change my mind. What the Anger was, was frustration from lack of preparedness and irritation. If I had picked their clothes out the night prior my son wouldn't have had questions about his shoes and I would have been able to focus on getting them out of the house.

Now, enough about my personal example, let us look at a few other examples.

It is anger that can encourage social change.

It is anger that can reveal you're not being heard.

Anger that can reveal something you need to speak up about.

When we're angry about how someone is being treated, we shouldn't revert to the sin of gossip and tell others about it we should lovingly go to the person being treated that way or the one doing the damage and use our anger to speak life into their situation.

Maybe we're trying to explain ourselves to someone and we feel that anger revving up; there is a reason. Either we're not being received, or we're not being heard, either way, the anger shows us that we need to protect ourselves. Whether by setting boundaries, stopping the conversation in its tracks or redirecting we must attempt to adjust the conversation in order to allow that anger to subside.

I can't see your face, so I am unsure if my point is being received here. What I want you to recognize is that anger is there to speak to you not to hurt you. In order to use that anger for good you have to process the anger, the purpose of the anger and make healthy actions to have your voice heard.

As we close today's reflection, I highly encourage a journaling session:

what makes you angry? why? what are you supposed to do about it? how can you address this anger without sin?

& Remember,

God Loves You Right Where You're At