Lesson of the Day: How to Deal with Anger

I went to church last Sunday- late, but I made it. The topic was, "Anger" and the havoc it wreaks on our lives. When I first heard it, I was thinking, "I am not angry. I have had more than my fair share of dealing with angry people and in general, I am slow to anger." Then, in the last few minutes of the sermon, the Pastor slipped in my lesson of the day.

What was it?  During the sermon, he discussed the expressions of anger - exploding, imploding, sulking and pity parties. He moved on to talk about depression, which is closely related to anger. (I have often heard it defined as, "Anger turned inwards" and I have been there.)  Then, very sneakily, he added the one thing I needed to hear.

The gist was that people who are not kind to us, whether bosses, co-workers, or family may have labelled us,"forgetful, scatter-brained, stupid" or whatever. If we give in to anger as a response to their actions, we allow allow those labels to stick to us.

When we are angry, we replay the situation over and over in our minds. Maybe we are looking for a different outcome or maybe we want justification that our feelings aren't "over reacting". However, the longer that we hold on to the replay, the more time and energy it takes away from our "true self." If we allow this to go on, we have given up our power. This noise in our heads holds us back. We lose.

The only label that matters is the label that God has for us. That label is,"Not only good enough, but unconditionally loved." 

That was my take-away from church. We all have anger cross our paths. How we deal with it, is up to us. If we allow other people to define us, we are far from reaching our own potential.
Being told that you are not good enough, smart enough, etc is painful. Over time, we can start to believe it.

As someone less politically correct would say, "You need to knock  that sh*t off! Quit letting others define you."

You can hear the sermon in its entirety at http://victoryscrossing.com/sermons/handle-anger/
You may find it odd that this was my take-away.
You are welcome to let me know what yours is.

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