Anger is an emotion that everyone is capable of having; I say “capable,” because it doesn’t have to happen. As Christians we take the Christian perspective, but that’s not the only reason to not be angry.

When you get angry, your body produces a horrible chemical called Cortisol, which over the years ages you, brings destruction, and can even cause death.

When angry, your blood vessels constrict blood-flow to your body (especially important, your brain), and with less blood and oxygen flowing to your brain, you can’t think clearly. Further, this effect can last for hours after the anger seems to have stopped; and if you have to drive, study, or write an exam, then you cannot function properly.

Constricted (narrowed) blood vessels, along with tightened muscles, allow less oxygen to flow from your lungs, which leaves you fatigued, and further, less blood out to your skin makes the skin look older.

Anger makes your stomach tight and restricts the digestive juices, which makes you less hungry, which in turn gives you get less nutrition through less intake of quality food. A tight, angry, and anxious stomach also makes you more likely to crave junk-food, which can lead to weight gain, which can then lead to depression, heart-disease and/or diabetes.

When you are angry, then the small vessels in your eyes get tight, which makes your vision worse, and the tightness in the eyes also makes it difficult to concentrate on printed words; this in turn causes even more stress at school and work.

When you are angry, the chemical adrenaline flows, which puts great pressure on the heart; those with heart problems can die from this in an instant. As the veins constrict, there is also more opportunity for cholesterol to break away from the sides of the veins and then to clog the heart. Habitual anger also leads to shrinkage of the brain. This is worth repeating: If you frequently have anger, then your brain “shrinks!”

When you are angry, you hurt you, and not the other person; because he forgets about you and the problem, but you keep the anger, and it hurts you.

When you are angry you also negatively affect those around you, as your temper becomes short, and you become unreasonable and demanding. You might also become more suspicious, and your decision making is hampered by anger. When negative and angry, it becomes difficult to see things objectively because emotion is running so hot.

Think about this: “There is no problem so bad, that getting angry won’t make it worse!” When you are on the receiving end of somebody else’s anger, do you listen to them or respect them, or want to do what they demand? No. This proves that getting angry accomplishes nothing. You, control your emotions; or they, control you. It’s that simple. The Bible says that a wiseman controls his emotions. This means that it is you that has control over your feelings, and not the reverse. Anger is just an emotion; its words or a look that someone gives you; and it’s simply overheated chemicals running out of control through your system. You must see it as that, and get over it. Don’t let a mean look or some unkind words that have been thrown at you allow you to loose your temper. You must keep your dignity and self-respect by ignoring or rising above the things that cause anger.

When you get angry, you are chained to that emotion or that incident that made you angry. You must not let something that isn’t really there control you.

Angry people have fewer friends because people have their own problems, and don’t want any part of yours. Further, people don’t like having to choose sides, so they naturally try to avoid angry people. With anger be careful; there are some people who deliberately try to find angry people because they like to stir up trouble and see others have problems.

If you learn one thing from reading this, it’s that anger accomplishes nothing. Issues are resolved by rational clear-headed people and not by “hot-heads.”

If you want peace, then you must forgive. If the other person is wrong, that’s okay because sometimes you’re also wrong.

Forgive them, please. Let it go. You’re going to live many years – is this problem so important? Certainly not. If each person gets angry once a day, that means 6,000,000,000 angry moments occur worldwide each 24 hours.

In physics we know that you cannot create or destroy any energy, which means that you can only transfer the energy; therefore, instead of transferring your anger to an innocent person – which you have no right to do – just run, swim, dance or anything else to transfer that energy. It takes practice, but you can succeed.

If possible, try to see things from the other person’s perspective, because if they’ve done something wrong to you there could be reasons. Possibly they have serious personal, family problems and/or financial problems, and -- maybe its not you that they are angry with in the first place. Their mind could be so concentrated on their problems that they aren’t aware of how they are affecting you; further, you might even be able to help them. It’s possible they are from a family where issues were always resolved violently; therefore, this is all they know. Or, it’s possible they have a loved one who is sick or has just died or some other problem, and this occupies all of their thoughts, leaving them physically, mentally and emotionally weak. Tempers can get hot!

Please remember – anyone can get angry; but a wise person can always walk away from trouble. If the other person is hot and angry, then any talk will probably only make it worse, so walk away from it. It takes courage to simply walk away, but, put one foot in front of the other, and…just walk away.

So far we have dealt with a small fraction of the physical, mental and emotional aspects of anger; however, the most important problem is that anger hurts your relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

God created you with a mind that can accomplish peace; however, you can only do this if you rely on God. When you rely on God, you know that He will protect you and find a way for you to get out of the situation. You also realize that to get angry, is to not have the patience or the insight to wait for God to act. God has a perfect plan, but it is a long-term plan, which only people who trust in God can understand.

When you rely on God, you also realize that you don’t have to get angry, because God has promised that He will bring punishment or forgiveness to the person who tried to make you angry. You can trust the Bible to help you deal with anger. The Bible is thousands of years old, which means it has stood the test of time. Anger is reserved for God, and not you. He created you, and it is His decision to discipline or get angry.

God’s anger is part of His perfect plan, and it is usually after many warnings and forgivings. His anger is to bring about positive change in the individual. In Deuteronomy 32:35, God says: “Vengeance (revenge) is My responsibility, I shall repay.”

To be angry with someone is to not accept that God has a purpose in their bad behavior. There are many examples in the Bible of how God used a bad person to do His will. Jesus himself submitted to the actions of bad people to accomplish what God wanted. To be angry, is not to trust in God’s judgment.

Once the heated moment has passed, the anger you had often leaves you feeling bad and embarrassed. An angry moment can make people look down on you for years. You cannot do God’s work if people look down on you for your anger.

To forgive others rather than get angry at them, allows the power of God’s love to flow through you. At the time of the incident, it may seem that you were weak by not getting angry and shouting, but when it is seen later, you are the one that intelligent people will admire for having not lost your temper. By doing this you humble the other person, as he or she slowly realizes that the anger they had was a weakness. This allows God’s love to then flow through, because when forgiveness and humility act together, the result is always good.

Not getting angry, shows that you are a confident person; one who can keep above stupid incidents; moreover, it shows that you don’t take the other person’s actions seriously because you have the confidence to know that nobody has the ability to control your behavior.

To forgive others is to be forgiven by God in return. This is great. The person can either receive your anger or your forgiveness, but by forgiving him, you are doing yourself a favor; because by doing this, you can then feel comfortable in the knowledge that your sins are also forgiven. One of the most important aspects of not getting angry is that you get God’s mercy. Never underestimate that reward.

To not be angry, is to trust God’s judgment; you know that there is a long term reason.

Not getting angry means self-restraint, which builds discipline, which builds strength.

Anger holds the future hostage to an incident from the past.

Here are some Bible verses on anger.

“Keep away from anger … and do not worry. It [anger] only leads to evil.” (Psalms 37:8.)

“A fool gets angry in an instant, but a wiseman ignores an insult.” (Proverbs 12:16.)

“A fool is hot headed and reckless.” (Proverbs 14:16-17.)

“A patient man has great wisdom, but a man who gets angry easily shows he is a fool.” (Proverbs 14:29.)

“A fool gets angry, but a wiseman keeps himself under control.” (Proverbs 29:11.)

“Anger lives in the lap of a fool.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9.)

Now for the good news: God will gladly help you. If you’re angry, take a walk – and if you’re really angry – then take a long walk, go for a swim, pat a dog. Jesus loves you. Take that step.

God bless you.