Anger; Secondary Emotion

Anger is good. Anger is a good thing. Anger is a God thing. This is why it's OK that Jesus got angry in the temple.

It's what happens with the anger that can be a problem, and it's that that our society confuses with anger and then lables as bad.

John Ortberg - Everybodys Normal Till You Get To Know Them

Remember how you learned in grade school that red, blue and yellow are primary colours and that other colours can be made from a mixture of other of them? In a similar way, anger is not a primary emotion. It is virtually always the result of a mixture of other emotions, such as hurt, frustration or fear. If we want to manage anger constructively, we need to step back and ask what is underneath the anger. Otherwise we are not dealing with the root cause

Anger is a warning. It tells us when something is wrong. It is, however a secondary emotion and we have to look deeper to what's underneath.

I was talking to a young guy recently, who has a real anger problem and what's worse, he feels that that is just the way he is.

I seriously disagree with him. However, 'Anger Management' techniques are not enough. They can be helpful, but only in reducing the negative impact of our mis-directed anger. The best ones are the ones that help us re-direct our anger in the same moment it arrives; sucessfully challenging the cause of the anger, be it a person or action or situation.

Thank God, then, that the Holy Spirit can transform our Hearts, so that we, especially young males in our day, can avoid being trapped by this emotion. Instead God can change our very understanding of how we feel, and 're-wire' our reactions; if we let Him.