The Measure of a Man by Getz Gene A

Author:Getz, Gene A. [Getz, Gene A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

What Causes Anger?

We are made in God’s image.

God is both a God of love and a God of anger. Because we are made in His image, we have the capacity to experience both of these emotions .

We are born with a sin nature.

Here’s a question! Did Adam and Eve experience anger before they disobeyed God and introduced sin into the world? Frankly, I’m not certain. If they did, it would not have been sinful anger.

But one thing is certain. Once sin entered the human race because of their sin, it opened the door to sinful anger! Sadly, their son, Cain, demonstrated this kind of wickedness when he “became very angry” and took his brother’s life (Gen. 4:5–8).

We have been exposed to bad examples.

Angry people nurture anger in others. This is why Solomon wrote:

Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hottempered man, or you will learn his ways, and find a snare for yourself. (Prov. 22:24–25)

This is an especially serious problem when a bad model is a child’s parents. Children cannot remove themselves from a negative home environment.

Don’t misunderstand. Our children need good models, not perfect models. They need to be able to watch adults demonstrate how to handle the God-created capacity to become angry in mature and appropriate ways.

Remember, too, that children can understand anger. If we totally hide our own anger from them, they may grow up thinking it is wrong to have angry feelings. This can lead to intense guilt feelings on their part when they feel anger.

I remember one incident when my son was about eight or nine years old. He was stirring his iced tea and kept clinking the spoon against the side of the glass. Frankly, it irritated me. I had a pretty rough day and just the sound of the consistent clinking got on my nerves. I asked him to stop—and he did, for a few seconds .

Once again I asked him to stop, this time with a little more intensity. Again he cooperated—for a few seconds.

The third time it happened, I turned to him, asked him to look me straight in the eyes, and said with more intensity than ever, “Kenton, I’ve asked you to stop two times already. Now please obey me. That noise makes me angry!”

My son looked at me somewhat startled. Then with a calm spirit, he said, “Oh, okay, Dad! I understand.” This time he stopped. He heard me share my anger in a direct but nonabusive way. That he understood. With few exceptions, all children do!

We have developed bad habits.

Because of our sin nature, we can quickly learn to manipulate others with anger—either with outbursts or in passive-aggressive ways. We become self-centered! We have simply developed a bad habit—using anger for our own benefit.

We all experience insecurity.

All of us have elements of insecurity. It’s part of being human and living in a fallen world. We are surrounded by imperfect people who discourage us rather than help us to feel secure and accepted by others.

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