Planting Truth in our Hearts
Every Tuesday evening for 30 weeks, I spent 3 hours in a classroom discussing family life skills with a group of women and a trained marriage and family counselor. On one memorable evening, our teacher stood at the front and re-defined anger for me:
Anger is a false front – a signpost for another underlying root emotion. We use anger to cover up our shame, inadequacy, and pain.
Really? I grew up in a home where angry outbursts were the norm. In order to be heard, you simply elevated your voice and spoke with more passion. This was how we communicated. Now as an adult, I needed to re-learn how to engage in discussion without verbally sparring if I wanted to have a peaceful home. I needed to remove the roots of bitterness wrapped around my selfish heart.
What I learned through wise counsel matches perfectly with the truths shared in the book of James. Self-righteous anger is never healthy. We will never win the war by using our words as a weapon.
The Apostle James lived in a time where opposing parties were passionate about opinions, and he offered practical help to the early church regarding how to work through conflicts. The way of the world is to demand our own way, but in this passage we discover God’s equation for healthy communication…
I’m sharing “Planting Truth in our Hearts” at Love God Greatly today.
To read the rest of this post, join me here.
⇓
If you are visiting from Love God Greatly today, welcome to my little space on the web!
Here you will find fuel for a wildfire faith to help you
-
- LOVE DEEP: Fervently extend God’s kindness and grace to pesky people.
- PRAY BIG: Go down fighting on your knees with fire in your bones.
- HOPE FULL: Stay tethered to a confident anticipation that keeps your heart ablaze.
SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE WEEKLY FAITH FUEL IN YOUR INBOX.
YOU’LL GET A FREE COPY OF “4 SUREFIRE WAYS TO IGNITE YOUR FAITH
and access the practical resources in the Fatih Fuel Library for members.
I’m sharing a copy of My Pray Big Prayer Calendar with you. Sign up today as a member of the Wildfire Faith Community and grab a copy in our Faith Fuel Library. Print out your copy and start each morning inviting God to strengthen your step and breathe fresh wind into your weary spirit.
So much wisdom, Lyli, in explaining how to respond with God’s love and grace instead of our own agenda.
That’s right on point, Lyli! As a retired marriage and family therapist I can easily say “Amen!!” Gary Oliver and Norm Wright wrote a great book some years ago entitled When Anger Hits Home. They and other marriage and family therapists will often say that anger is a secondary emotion. The key to resolving it is to look at the emotion under it whether that is pain, shame, inadequacy, disappointment, etc. Without resolving those, anger will just keep erupting.