So it is very important for you to know you are angry and to have someone to talk it out with. Suppressed or repressed anger is not good for anyone, and if something is wrong in our soul, we need to know it.

If we are angry, we need to both be aware of it and feel it.

It has a three-pronged approach to solve the problem: awareness and honesty, correct orientation, and active movement.Īwareness and honesty has to do with making sure we know how we feel. I do not think the truth is in either of these extremes-suppression and being nice even when we hate someone or in “letting the anger out,” and hurting people so we can be “healthy.” I believe good mental health is what the Bible teaches. Then there are groups and others that are turning people into terrorists in the name of “growth.” There are those who feel anger is wrong and just sinful. Although some people were helped, others were not because of the shallowness of this approach, and in some ways this is what is still around today. It did not take long for this popular view of anger to make it into the church and Christians started going to counselors who were into that kind of expression of feeling. So there was a big push in assertive training and an emphasis on “getting the anger out.” We saw people begin to scream and let it fly, thinking this was “mental health.” They were often times just stuck with it.Ībout the same time, the world of psychiatry was getting into the understanding that hidden anger could cause sickness, and play a major role in a lot of psychiatric problems, like mood problems, procrastination, and blocks of intimacy, among others. It did not mean that people were not angry, it just meant that the church often did not give them very helpful ways to work it out, especially people who had been really hurt in life and were sitting on a lot of pain and anger. Because of this teaching, many people were very out of touch with what they were feeling, and a lot of anger went hidden and suppressed.

As Proverbs 27:4 says, “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming.” We all know what it feels like to be on the wrong end of someone’s rage attack. And, there are a lot of verses that tell us about the danger of anger, for it can be a very destructive emotion. Back then, it was almost all seen as sin. In the last 30 years or so, we have seen a big swing in the way that Christians look at anger. I am glad you asked because there is so much confusion in the church about this issue, so it would be good to talk about.

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