ANGER, BITTERNESS, & RESENTMENT
Well, since my blog is dealing with assisting individuals how to live life undefeated, I think that it is best to have an introductory realizing that the only way we can live life undefeated is first by believing in the someone who already has given us the victory over all things… That someone is Jesus Christ our Lord and our Saviour. Lord, because He is the Someone that we choose to follow and obey… Saviour, because He died in my place, in your place… where we are guilty of death, he died that death for us so that we can live. As I write these posts, they will almost always relate to a relationship with God and His Word, the Bible and where it doesn’t, please acknowledge what was mentioned at first that it is only by that relationship that we can overcome all things.
When I say living life defeated, I mean allowing the cares of this world to decide what kind of person you will be and what your actions will entail, what you think, and what you desire. Allowing the bad and ugly in this life to beat you down to where you stay down and choose not to get up again. That is living a defeated life, giving up, and surrendering.
Now, there are many things that can cause us to live a defeated life: anger, bitterness, and resentment, unconquered temptations, low self esteem, fear, loneliness, depression, childhood hurts, addictions, and many more. We are going to cover many of these items in the following posts. Our first set will be Anger, Bitterness, and Resentment. As we learn to conquer our anger, bitterness, and resentment, we build a new state of mind for ourselves.
Anger – The basic emotion of extreme displeasure or exasperation in reaction to a person, a situation, or an object. The synonyms to anger are annoyance, irritation, fury, rage, antagonism, resentment, incense, inflame, madden, ire, outrage, steam up, tick off… there are so many definitions for it. I wanted to list a good amount so that you understand that “Anger” comes under many names.
Bitterness
– marked by intensity or severity; accompanied by severe pain or
suffering; exhibiting intense animosity; harshly reproachful; marked
by cynicism and rancor; expressive of severe pain, grief, or regret.
Synonyms of bitterness are: acrid, acrimonious, embittered, hard,
rancorous, resentful, and sore.
Resentment
– a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at
something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury. Synonyms of
resentment are: grievance, grudge, or keeping score.
When
we are angry, be it for a good reason or not, for a long or short
period of time, it effects us, mentally, physically, spiritually, and
of course, emotionally. Anger can cause negative reactions and
situations in a relationship when expressed unconstructively. So, we
want to learn how to get rid of our anger, whether it has plagued us
for all of our lives or is a sudden issue. As we learn these
techniques, our state of mind will also change thus allowing us
to overcome even more. Tomorrow, we will cover the 7 steps that
should be taken to deliver us from anger, resentment, and bitterness.
1.
Admit that you are angry. Be honest to yourself and with God. Don’t
try to hide your genuine feelings. Heb. 4:13; Eph. 4:26
2.
Discover why you are angry. (This may require you to look into your
past or speak with a counselor.) Gen. 4:6
3.
Although it is ok to be angry for a good reason, don’t let your
emotions control you. (Prov. 16:32; Eccl. 7:9; Prov. 14:29)
4.
Give your anger to God. Remember angry words stir up anger in others.
(Prov. 15:1; Ps. 37:7, 8).
5.
Forgive others who have wronged you, even if they haven’t asked for
forgiveness, nor apologized. Because the purpose of the forgiveness
is for your sake not theirs. Since God has forgiven you for what you
have done to Him, ask Him to give you forgiveness for what others
have done to you. (Eph. 4:32; Lk. 11:4; Col. 3:13)
6.
Forgive yourself for things you have done and for being angry. (1 Jn.
1:9)
7.
Deal with anger quickly. Don’t let it accumulate. If you need to
ask someone’s forgiveness, do it. (Eph. 4:26)
Now,
while we know that there is nothing wrong with being angry for a good
reason, it is the holding on to anger that gives us the trouble and
isn’t good according to Eph 4:29-32. You see, anger progresses into
resentment and resentment progresses into bitterness. So, if we avoid
holding onto the anger, the other 2 will take care of themselves.
These things cause us not to be able to move on in our lives. It
holds us back from accomplishing our plans and goals and even more so
is a stumbling block from fulfilling what God has planned for us.
Let's have a new state of mind, one that is free from such vices.
Let’s stop the devil in his tracks today by letting go of any
anger, resentment, and bitterness thus allowing ourselves to live
life victoriously.
Join me again for other posts & please feel free to comment.