How to Stop Acting Out in Anger
Anger ties up your emotion and thought processes. The Bible (Ephesians 4:26) cautions us that in our anger, we are not to sin. Anger can lead us to take destructive action. Anger can lead others to put us in the way of danger. So what can we do to avoid acting out in anger?
Interestingly, the Bible does not seem to condemn anger, if we observe from the verse above. So does that mean anger is allowed?
The purpose of anger is to motivate us to correct a situation. However, most times focus is on the anger itself and not on the situation that needs correcting. The result often is the emotion feeding on itself. Anger then propels you to retaliate against the source rather than dealing with the reason.
Knowing how to avoid acting out in anger can take serious mistakes out of our way.
#1 Recognise Your Anger Signs
When we are angry, our heart beats faster and we breathe more quickly, preparing us for action! We might also notice other signs, such as tension in our shoulders or clenching our fists. Removing ourselves from the situation when these signs start showing is a great idea! If we take our focus away from the environment causing the anger, we recover from the build up of negative emotions. We have a perfect example of this in point 2 below.
#2 Avoid Taking Immediate Action
There is one instance in the Bible that people say Jesus got real angry. Lets see what happened.
The Lord Jesus Christ went to the Temple to observe the activities going on. He took full observation and retreated to ponder on what He had seen. He also communed with the Father through the Holy Spirit before returning to the situation. It was only the next day on returning that He drove out the money changers and other merchants who had abused the purpose for the Temple (Mark 11:11-15).
Also note that there was a purpose! Jesus immediately started to preach and to heal. He drove the money changers and merchants out so that the Temple could be dedicated to its true purpose which was praying, teaching and healing (Matthew 21: 13 – 14).
#3 Exercise
Exercise can bring down our anger levels. Anger is an emotion that takes up enormous amounts of brain energy. Anger feeding on itself can be physically draining as mental activity draws intense energy. Physical exercise diverts our mind onto the body. Soon enough, we begin to feel the beneficial ‘feel good’ effects of physical exercise.
#4 Sing
I do this a lot. It is not about the quality of our voice. Singing is therapy. Songs are spiritual. Singing exercises our lungs. We are impacted more by what we hear ourselves saying! So the songs you sing to yourself will lift your spirit. We are not talking about sad songs that will make you more angry! I like singing a lot of praise songs. Zoe says I sing all the time. In fact, everyone knows me for my singing. Oh yes!
The Bible tells us a merry heart is like medicine to the body. Singing and songs definitely played a healing part in my recovery from mental illness so I know the power of songs. There is nothing that can compare to singing, praising and creating music. In effect, keeping us joyful!
Next time, we will look at a few more things. But in the meantime, have you got anything you would like to share? Please share below.
About The Author
I used to be very angry for little things. I was a Muslim then. . I received Christ and the Word of God taught me that I am Christ like. He has qualities. I am like him, therefore, I can change the way I am. Then I started making positive confessions and I became a humble person. Glory.