Anger

We often get angry over stupid little things.

At least I know I do.

Anger is Stupid

I got angry the other day because I had to stop what I was doing to go mow a paddock. It was getting late, and I knew I had to mow, but I was going to do it later. I just wanted to finish what I was doing first. Alas, time got away from me. What a stupid thing to get mad about!

Squeezing in few extra minutes of work is hardly worth the relationships I have with the people around me. Anger can be very damaging to relationships.

We are commanded to love our neighbours, yet we often go and get pissed about tiny little things like missing out on a few extra minutes of coding. A few minutes is nothing, and the words I’m typing into the computer are nothing. Just bits in a little computer on a tiny planet in a miniscule galaxy. Yet I presume to imagine that my precious few minutes are worth getting angry about.

The Other Hand

Anger is not inherently evil. In fact, it’s an important tool, just like all of your emotions. But it must be kept under control. You need to control your anger instead of letting it control you. Emotions (especially anger) are like warhorses. If you gain mastery over them, they can bullet you to your destination and crush your enemies underfoot. Or if you don’t, they will sweep you away into barren lands and pummel you into the dirt.

You have been given the emotion of anger to protect you, and your loved ones, against injustice. But it is easily misused by the Adversary. He tries to convince you that you have been wronged. Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. Even so, love your neighbour as you love yourself.

When I speak of gaining mastery over your emotions, it’s important to note that I’m not talking about controlling them. You can’t control your emotions. You can only control your mindset and your responses to them. If your heart is in the right place, you won’t feel anger over petty things. And if you have self control, you won’t lash out at those around you when you do get angry. I can certainly be better at these things.

Conclusion

Beware of getting angry about stupid stuff because it’s stupid. Furthermore, anger is easily misled, but it’s not inherently evil. You must seek to have a pure heart so it can’t be misled. This is impossible to acheive but you gotta try. That’s why you also need good self control, so that when you get angry, you don’t let it control you.