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Failure of Anger

“The obsession to demand that things go the way we want them to go is one of the greatest bondages in human society today. People will spend weeks, months, even years in a perpetual stew because some little thing did not go as they wished. They will fuss and fume. They will get mad about it…Frankly, most things in life are not nearly as important as we think they are. Our lives will not come to an end if this or that does not happen.” —Richard Foster (the Celebration of Discipline)

In today’s passage, we read about Peter’s violent outburst in the garden. Peter’s emotions failed him, and his anger got the best of him.

Have you ever experienced your emotions getting the best of you? Perhaps, you were confronted with a circumstance and retaliated in a way you regret. You said something in anger, and you hurt someone. You repaid evil with evil. You yelled at your spouse or your kids.

Anger is an emotion that is commonly rooted in a desire to control. Our kids refuse to listen; we lose control in anger. We don’t want to deal with a particular issue, so every small issue ticks us off. We want things to go our way, and when it doesn’t, we get mad.

Peter had control issues. He always wanted to be right. He responded angrily when things did not go as he thought they should. His anger ultimately caused physical harm to someone else.

We see that Peter eventually grows to overcome his emotions. “Be tenderhearted…Don’t repay evil with evil…Don’t retaliate with insults…” (1 Peter 3:8-9 NLT emphasis added).

How do we overcome the failure of anger?

Slow down and breathe!

James put it this way, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: you must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” (James 1:19-20 NLT)

Anger is an outburst of emotion. We can make better decisions when we slow down, breathe, and give ourselves a chance to listen and see what is happening.

Practice living in freedom!

This simply means adjusting your thoughts and actions to live free from having to control everything. It is another way to practice self-control. Freedom does not mean less responsibility but the ability to respond rightly.

You can be free from the seething anger and frustrations you experience when others don’t act as you like or think they should. There is freedom in choosing to lay down the need to control people and outcomes. It is seeing from God’s perspective and not a merely human perspective.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I know my emotions get the best of me.

Help me slow down and breathe.

Let me be free from my own control.

I put myself into your guiding hands. Amen!