You can’t avoid getting angry sometimes. Everyone does. You might not think so, but the nicest person you know has been angry about something before. There are even stories in the Bible about Jesus getting angry—seriously!
One story in the Bible tells us that people were bringing children to meet Jesus. But the disciples were trying to send the children away, and this made Jesus very upset. The Bible says that Jesus became “indignant” and “rebuked” the disciples! (You can read the entire story for yourself in Mark 10:13-16). Indignant and rebuked are pretty big words that mean Jesus did not like what the disciples were doing.
Now, the Bible does not say that when Jesus became angry He screamed, stomped out of the room, and pushed people out of His way! How disappointing would it be if Jesus behaved that way? Instead, Jesus took time and talked to His disciples about what He was feeling. He was honest and told them how upset He was about what they were doing. He even explained why it made Him angry.
Yes, anger is an emotion you will feel sometimes. People will do things that you do not like and it may upset you. People can even be mean, but you can learn from Jesus. You can learn to handle your anger the right way. Ephesians 4:26 says, “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” This means that even when you are angry, you can find the right way to handle it. You cannot be disrespectful and you certainly cannot use anger as a reason to treat someone mean!
Ask God to help you to be like Him even when you are angry!
Dear God, I sometimes get angry and in the past I have not made the best decisions in my anger. Please help me know how I can turn my anger into a way to serve You or someone else. Help me let anger go when it does not honor You. In Jesus’s name, amen.
The next time you feel yourself getting angry, take a deep breath and count to three before you speak. This will give you time to really think about how you feel and what you really want to say.