Dealing With Anger While Sheltering In Place

During times of crisis, there are many recurring temptations that spike. Today's Coronavirus crisis is one of those instances. With people sheltering-in-place and limited means to separate from each other, all sorts of temptations can come. Some examples are annoying each other, worries over the future, job losses, and the possibility of getting sick. These conditions become sin's playground.

One of our most common temptations during difficult times is anger, which is why knowing how to deal with it is vital. With the majority of the world sheltering-in-place, it's a recipe for frustration, impatience, and harsh words, to name a few of anger's manifestations. In this daily brief, I want to talk about our old nemesis, anger.

I Am Better

For anger to function, you have to elevate yourself above another person because anger thrives when it's looking down on someone. It's that "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude. The manifestations of this "greater than, better than" posture are many. E.g., there is verbal anger, which is easy to tell because the person is hovering over you, looking down on you while lecturing you about why you're wrong and they're right. But there are also more subtle forms of anger that aren't verbal.

It could be secretly judging another person for what they have, how they are, or something they said that you did not like. In this case, the person under judgment may never know you're doing it to them. But you have elevated yourself above them—in your mind, looked down on them, and made an uncharitable judgment about them. Privately and unjustly judging others is a form of anger.

Here is an example of how it can happen. You read or watch something on social media, and you judge them uncharitably. Of course, you could respond to them harshly online, or you could gossip about them to a friend. These three reactions, uncharitable judging, harsh commenting, and gossip, are all forms of sinful anger.

Grace for the Humble

The most significant issue with this interplay between the heart and the behavior is that there is "no grace" for self-righteous people. What I mean by that statement is that righteous individuals don't need grace. Do you remember the kind of folks who needed grace from Jesus? He responded graciously to the sick, broken, needy, and humble.

Anger is a heinous sin, no matter how it works out (manifests) in a person's life because of the self-righteousness that feeds it. The solution, of course, is the Spirit penetrating the "self-righteous resistance field." And the elevated person immediately flings themselves on the Lord, pleading for mercy. Self-righteousness dissipates in the humble heart, and the outward behavior of anger flees.

If you're struggling with a specific form of sinful anger, will you find help today? If you don't know who to talk to, please come to our free community forums and tells us what's happening: http://bit.ly/2ieukJz. You may also study our resources on anger, which you can find here: http://bit.ly/2ThY4pI.

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