Why are you angry?

ANGER. 

Such a powerful emotion. In anger, feelings are hurt. In anger, relationships are destroyed. In anger, lives are altered. It is an easy emotion to give in to. There’s little thought involved when anger takes control. Only raw, unfiltered feeling.  

Anger is a secondary emotion brought on by fear, sadness, loss, or rejection. It is a way of dealing with what we are feeling. Cain, while speaking with the Lord about his offering, felt rejected. 

Cain and Abel give us that first taste of where anger can lead when allowed to take over. One decision, made in anger, and lives are forever changed. Cain is cursed and cast out. His work becomes fruitless. The children of his children’s children repeat his mistakes.  

Think about how you react when you get angry. Does your heart start to race? Does your face flush? Do you hear a ringing in your ears? Do your thoughts race? Do you lash out at? Do you spew hot, harsh words like lava? Do you strike out physically?  

What happens when your anger cools? Do you feel your anger is warranted? Do you justify your anger, casting blame on another person? Do you feel guilty over the things said in anger? Do you regret the words used? Do you regret the things done in anger?  

Yes, anger is a powerful emotion. Cain didn’t temper his anger. Instead, he let it rule him leading him to end the life of his brother. In his anger, over the rejection of his offering, Cain altered his life and the lives of those who would came from him.  

So, I ask you, how has your anger altered your life? How has it altered the lives of those around you? Do you understand your anger enough to tamp it down before you strike out? Or, are you a stick of dynamite, ready to destroy the moment the fuse is lit?  

If we are to be slow to anger, slow to speak, how do you measure up? What emotional legacy are you leaving for those who follow you?