You make me so angry!

Anger.... Wiktionary, the online dictionary defines anger as: A strong feeling of displeasure, hostility or antagonism towards someone or something, usually combined with an urge to harm.

The Bible records anger as the emotion that caused the first murder: read about it here 

Your doctor will likely define anger in the following terms: Anger causes a widespread negative

effects on the body. In a moment of anger, you may experience muscle tension, grinding of teeth and teeth clenching, ringing in the ears, flushing, higher blood pressure, chest pains, excessive sweating, chills, severe headaches or even migraines.

With chronic anger people can also experience peptic ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, intestinal cramping, hiccups, chronic indigestion, heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems, obesity, and frequent colds. Medical experts have found the heart muscle is affected by anger, and anger can actually reduce the heart's ability to properly pump blood.


One of the major effects anger has on the body is the release of chemicals and hormones, primarily adrenaline and noradrenaline. The adrenaline hormones act on all organs that reach the sympathetic nervous system, stimulating the heart, dilating the coronary vessels, constricting blood vessels in the intestines, and shutting off digestion. Suppressed anger can also have psychological effects, causing depression, eating disorders, addictions to drug and alcohol, nightmares, insomnia, self-destructive behavior. Interestingly, chronic depression and anxiety produces alarmingly similar conditions to all of the above.

In September 1999, a man was arrested in Wisconsin because his anger got the better of him. His washing machine was acting up so he pushed it out the door, down a flight of steps and then got his .25 caliber pistol and shot the machine three times.

A lady once came to the"old time" gospel preacher Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper," She said. "I blow up, and then it's all over."

"So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!"

Getting angry can sometimes be like leaping into a wonderfully responsive sports car, gunning the motor, taking off at high speed and then discovering the brakes are out of order. 

Anger easily spreads;  In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine. The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 207 other Boston buildings as well.

We all get angry, often over little, unimportant things, sometimes bigger things or events; it's what we do with that anger that matters.

What then is the antidote for anger? It's really very simple!

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1-2 NIV

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred.  And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.  Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV

In the words of Bobby McFerrin's catchy little tune: "Don't worry... be happy"

Even better advice is found in the Bible: But now also put off all these things: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, shameful speech out of your mouth. Colossians 3:8 MKJV

The late English entertainer, comedian, comic writer, actor and professional speaker, Bob Monkhouse in his book about public speaking (Just Say A Few Words) writes that he got angry at the manager of his local dry cleaners, and that he expressed that anger very forcefully. He later realized the he did not leave the manager with a very favorable impression. Just how unfavorable an impression came to light later. 

A few weeks following Bob's outburst, he put a red ballpoint pen in the breast pocket of a white shirt and forgot to put the cap on it. It made a ghastly red stain all over the pocket. Bob's wife said "It won't wash out, I'll take it to the dry cleaners". So his wife took the shirt to the very same dry cleaners where her husband had exploded at the manager. The manager took a long slow look at the shirt with the dark red stain all over the breast pocket, and looking sideways at Mrs Monkhouse said quietly, "Good shot".

The New Living Translation (NLT) renders Colossians 3:8 this way; But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander and dirty language. 

Proverbs 19:11 says, "A man’s wisdom gives him patience. It is to his glory to overlook an offense."