Welcome to spirituality and mental health. I'm your host Don Mackintosh. And this is part of a series designed to help your mental health wherever you may be. You may be attending the beautiful mind outpatient program, or you may be listening from afar, but whoever you are, wherever you are, I want to welcome you today and today, we're going to talk about something very important and that is anger as it relates to mental health. Now, whenever I'm talking to someone about anger, I kind of want or depression for instance, I kind of want to understand what's going on with them. There are physical problems that can cause depression, but there are also spiritual issues that can be underlying those physical problems.

So in other words, you might have insomnia or you might have significant weight changes feelings of being restless or slowed down, you might feel fatigued or have problems concentrating, you might feel alienated from things. You want that were beautiful and pleasant. And you might feel sad, sad blue or down in the dumps. And so those can be the things that you're sensing. But there might be underlying actual spiritual issues maybe pride, shame, guilt, fear, anxiety, thank lessness hopelessness. We talked about hope hopelessness in another episode, you may want to listen to lack of belief, many people that are depressed or anxious.

They have a hard time believing in God if there is a God, why isn't he helping them? or anger? So today we're going to talk about anger. And of course, you know, the word anger itself. If you just had a D in front of it, it's danger. So is there a danger in anger?

And is there good anger and is there bad anchor? What would you say? is anger good or bad? And I can almost hear you saying yes, it's both. It can be good and it could be bad. Someone has said That depression is really anger turned inward.

And you think about people that have experienced anger. I've gotten very upset. I think if not a number of years ago, a man got very upset, had come back from the military and he went down and he bombed a building and killed many people. Or you can think of someone that maybe masterminded, you know, dismantling the World Trade Centers. And when they found his diaries and different things, he was very angry about the way his country and his religion and his philosophy of life had been treated. So anger motivated both of these people to do some things that were very harmful not only to themselves, but to others.

So let's talk about anger a little bit today. First of all, anger is something that you do. You use your body to get angry in every like cleanse. To your fist or clench your teeth, your emotions are involved. Your thoughts are involved you begin to ruminate about things maybe that happened to you or begin to to upon the mentally, your behaviors are involved. Sometimes I can tell in my family for instance, when someone's angry, no one else can tell they're angry, but I can tell even before other people can tell because they're using their body, their emotions, or I was in a family one day talking to someone and they said, Oh, dad's angry.

How can you tell? Well, that little vessel in his forehead always begins to pulsate, when he gets angry. So your body you have flushed or flaring nostrils and you get hot, your emotions, maybe rage or rant, or maybe you're one of those people that tries to repress your emotions. So you look very, very silent. But underneath things are really raging, or your thoughts. You begin reasoning or recalling or reliving or judging things in your mind.

And maybe you wake up in the middle of night saying that Or reenacting things, and your behaviors. Anger is something you do in terms of not only your body emotions and thoughts, but also your behaviors. Maybe you're involved in substance abuse of some time to get rid of those feelings that you're having. Maybe you are falling in pornography or self harm, or maybe you've thought about suicide, which of course would be the ultimate harmful behavior. So anger then number one is something that you do. Number two, anger is natural in two ways.

So it's natural to be anger angry at least in and a couple of ways. If you're thinking about this and a biblical or religious or might say Christian worldview, and again, in America, many people think that way. In fact, the largest majority of any religious group in any state that you would go to today is a Christian worldview. But when they read the Bible, they see that God gets angry throughout the Bible has wrath. He's angry. He gets angry, but it's a righteous wrath there's there's a good reason that he gets angry.

He loves people he loves his creation he gets angry about that was harms it and he gets angry because of sin or maybe you get angry because of sin and what is sin. It's something that severs a relationship or does something negative between you and God or someone else. And so he gets angry about that. But the way he handles that, at least in the in the Bible is to take the anger which your sins deserve upon himself. And so he, he enters into anger that way. So there's a righteous anger we might say, and then there's an unrighteous anger.

And let's just say since we talked about God mentioning Satan, Satan's anger always springs from malice desires to hurt people. Like it says in john 1010, the thief comma not to hurt, kill and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. So Satan is always trying to hurt, kill and destroy. And sometimes anger gets misplaced. Sometimes people get angry at the wrong person. Remember the first story in the Bible Adam and Eve got angry at God, who created and provided everything and sustain them instead of, of the devil.

And they begin to blame and and shame and of course coming from that came great pain. So number three, anger is something you learn. There are many ungodly forms of anger that maybe we learned when we were on a school bus and how people bullied one another or in a college dorm where there was hazing going on, or at work where people were all picking on a person because of something so you can, you can learn ungodly forms of anger. I used to work in an environment where people were very angry at those that did not have insurance. When they came into the hospital, they were always belittling them and an angry at them. And sometimes we even mistreat them.

Another big purveyor of anger is talk radio, they listen to talk radio that just makes you angry. All it's designed to make you angry gets all kinds of people listening. And it can be from I'm not taking a political perspective here, it can be from the left, it can be from the right. And on both sides. People are just getting, presenting things that are designed to make you angry and also designed to sell advertising and maybe designed to promote some political cause now, it's something you learn now the book of Proverbs, which, by the way is a book I recommend to read if you want something to think about, doesn't matter if you're believer or not. But if you just took one chapter every day, you could read one chapter a day in and find something to really think about.

We do this in our program and it's got 31 chapters. So one for every day no matter how long the month is. Proverbs 22 verse 24. And 25 says this, make no friendship with an angry man, unless you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. So can you hang around, hang around people that are angry and can you learn to be angry? The proverb seems to indicate so and I've seen this also in my life.

Now people recognize your anger patterns. I was talking the other day to someone about their, their mother's anchor, and they said, Well, you know, she's gonna hit the roof, but she'll calm down. So they kind of recognize how you work through anger. He's giving me the silent treatment. This will last several weeks and then they'll stop talking to me again. So people recognize that you're angry.

They recognize your anger patterns as well. Bad anger again from the Proverbs proverbs 1417 Quick tempered man does foolish things. I could tell you all kinds of stories from working as my years of trauma centers, and a major city where people came in throughout the day and evening, who had done very crazy things like the man who tried to punch his family through a plexiglass window. window was fine. His family was fine, but his hand was not. He had broken his hand, his wrist, and a quick tempered man does foolish things.

Proverbs 2922, an angry man stirs up strife and a furious man abounds in transgression, so you can get other people upset. You can be transgressing trans rights means to transport yourself aggressively aggression across all kinds of lines. So an angry man can stir up all kinds of things or a woman it's not gender specific here. And you can find many stories throughout the Scripture and in culture where this is true proverbs 1320 he that walk with with wire men shall be wise but a companion of fools. So be destroyed. You remember the story of the Hatfields and the McCoys.

This was a story a number of years back where these two families begin to fight over the death of a pig, or some animal and they begin to, you know, shoot one another's animals and they begin to shoot each other and went on for generations. And the Hatfields and the McCoys. were fighting from, I think, 1870s to 1890. Number four, anger is a moral matter. it evaluates it makes a judgment, it's emotionally, an emotionally aroused form of judgment against a perceived evil. I have every right to be angry, one might say, and evaluates.

It makes a judgment but it is also evaluated. Society evaluates you for your angry anger. Let's say you got angry and and did harm or damage to someone else to their property or their person? And the judge would say, what was your motive? What motivated you to do this? And that's why we have terms like pre meditated murder.

What was your motivation? What was your way of responding and reacting? And of course, God does the same thing. If you read the scriptures, he actually will check and see what the responsibility was that story in the Bible where the first anger episode is recorded. In Genesis four, six and seven. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?

Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted and if you do not do well sin, in other words, that what separates you from God or other sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but then listen to these words, but you should rule over it. In other words, so looks like a premeditated anger or something. you're meditating but remember, you're in Charge. It's a moral responsibility. You can get angry if you choose, but you should rule over it.

Now good anger has a cause. You remember this story perhaps on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 521 and 22. You have heard that it was said to those who not murder or whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, she'll be in the danger of the judgment. So you probably say, yeah, yeah, I have a cause I have every reason to be angry at whoever or whatever you're thinking about it. Everyone believes that they have a cause.

But how can you tell whether or not it's a good cause? Let me give you set seven key questions. seven questions. Number 1am. I angry about the right things. Have you ever been angry about something that was just a misperception?

And you were all upset but then you found out Wait a minute. I was angry about the wrong thing. The story of the Bible of Jonah he got angry at God because of the gourd that shriveled up not recognizing that God was the one who provided it and it provided some shade at least for a short time. So sometimes we can angry about the wrong things, and sometimes about the right things Number 2am I expressing anger in the right way. Am I vengeful? Am I trying to take things into my own hands?

Or am I turning it over to those that can really deal with it in a more measured way? The Bible says Vengeance is mine. I will repay don't you try and repay? And don't you try and just kind of marinate in your anger because it's gonna hurt you and you might hurt others. Just turn it over to me Vengeance is mine. I will repay.

So am I angry about the right things? Am I expressing anger in the right way? Number three, how long has my anger lasted? You know, a little bit of anger is a good thing, a little bit of stress is a good thing. Chronic stat stress develops when you have stress for more than seven days. That's why you need to take a day and seven off.

So so like anger. If you're using a passage from both the Old and New Testament, it's actually quoting from the Old Testament. In this new testament passage, it says, Be angry, and don't send Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. So how long can you be angry? You can be angry for one day. And this is why some people move to Norway.

Because the sun doesn't go down for a long time and they're like, man, at least I can be angry longer. And you might remember that famous prayer, the Lord's Prayer, Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us, you know, help us forgive others and whatnot. So you daily forgiving, you're not letting things build up. So am I angry about the right things number one number 2am. I expressing Anger in the right way. Number three, how long has been anger last at number four?

How controlled is your anger? You know, you could get out of control with anger if you let yourself do that. Proverbs 2911 a fool, unearth all his mind but a wise man keep it in till afterwards. Sometimes, you know controlling anger, increased blood flow to the frontal lobe, you go out for a walk, your self control goes up. But controlling your anger is really the mark of someone who's wise. They don't have to just respond immediately they can defer it till later I found this with my children.

I have four children if they do something wrong, and I temptation is to respond in the moment, but if I say hey, you know what? You did something wrong. We know that. Let's talk about that later tonight when things have calmed down. So how controlled is your anger? proverbs 1429.

He did this wrath is a great understanding. But he that is of haste of spirit, exalt of folly. So, you know, be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath. This is kind of the idea that we're covering here. Now, Abraham Lincoln was a great guy in terms of dealing with anger, and all kinds of people that were anger, angry at him. And he had to deal with all kinds of people that were approaching him second guessing him.

And after he died, they discovered they went into the White House and they discovered a shelf was full of letters and these letters that begin to read them, and they realized that were his initial thoughts when he was thinking about things that were said in Congress or the Senate, or maybe the general public. And they were his initial reaction was he wrote it out. He got it out of his system, and he just put it in a drawer. Now he probably wish that he had, you know, burned all those things, but processing it so that you don't act on it right then and when that'd be better than many times is that knee jerk reaction? Very, very important concept. Number five, what motivates your anger?

Remember had seven in our list? What motivates your anger? What do I really want? With this anger? What am I really trying to get? And when you start to think about your motives for anger, it could slow you down.

And there may be better ways to get what you really need or want or desire than being angry. So what motivates it number six? Is your anger, primed and ready to respond to another person's habitual sense or respond because of sins that have been done to you maybe triggers? Maybe the things you have not taken care of in your own life that are causing you to always be on edge. People often do things wrong. Remember the expression, how often should I forget my My brother 70 times seven, that actually was kind of alluding to a prophecy, which was 70 times seven was 490 or 490 years.

Now, how can you tell if you are having this kind of anger, that's probably primes too soon. If you have phrases going through your mind like you always or you never, this is usually not the right kind of anger because it's making all or nothing statements that you've learned about probably in this outpatient program, or if you've studied cognitive distortions. So is your anger, primed and ready. godly anger is fresh, it doesn't keep records of wrongs. You get angry, but it's brand new. It's just from that day, it's not built up.

It's not over time. It's a brand new anchor. So try and get fresh anger. Maybe read first Corinthians 13. If you'd like to read that it doesn't keep any records of wrongs. It says now Number seven, what is the effect final point and anger then we're gonna look at a song.

What is the effect of your anger? Not so long ago. I hate to admit how long ago actually it was quite a number of years ago a couple decades ago. I don't want to date myself too much. But I went to visit this place and there was this dog I went to visit these people to study study with them. And there was this dog that kept barking at me every single time I went to these people's house, he was just barking it just it was not just barking.

It was over the top barking it was. I mean, if I would have turned him into the dog police, he would have been in trouble but this dog was barking in one day. I don't know what came over me, but I actually started barking back at the dog. I know. I know. It's hard to believe but yes, I did.

I started barking back at the dog. And I didn't realize the effect this would have on others. And some kind of strange feeling came over me and I thought, Man, I feel like I'm being watched. And I looked up and I looked up into the window of the house, I was going in with three small children that live there. And they were watching me bark at their dog and they were not impressed. I could see them looking at each other.

When I went to the front door. I go to the front door and the lady answers the door and I heard these little kids are muttering that man's barking at our at our dog and the other one says, I don't like that man. He barks at our dog. And you know, it's just had a bad effect. Now, some weeks later, I came back, the dog was still barking at me. But this time I came back and this dog actually had dug a hole under the fence.

And it was like he was waiting for me. The effect of my anger on him was he was he wanted to get a piece of me. So the next time I came, he had this hole dug on the fence and I was walking to the house, and I saw the hole and it was like, equal distance to the house or my car. What was I going to do and then the dogs Tommy and he started running towards the fence fast as he could go. And I knew man, I'm in trouble. So I kind of was frozen.

Have you ever been frozen with something happens? I was frozen. The dog gets to the fence. He dove underneath the fence. But he got stuck under the fence and the fence was right in his back. Oh, man, I must admit I was a little relieved and maybe even a little happy because I didn't really like this dog too much.

But he began kind of moaning because he was in pain. And I had a decision to make. What was I going to do? The dog was kind of stuck there. I could have maybe, you know, done something to the dog. But then I had this strange feeling come over me again.

Maybe I was being watched. Sure enough, I looked out of the corner of my eye and there were those three kids watching me. So I went up to the fence and I made a decision which I didn't know how it would turn out. My decision was to lift the fence. The dog, huh? This was a nerve wracking moment when he come under the fence and get me or what do you go back into the fenced area?

So I picked up the fence and guess what the dog did? he repented. He was going towards me. But then he went the other way. He went back the other way. And you know, when he started to do sort of barking, he started getting like little whines.

Hmm. Like he liked me. And, you know, after that, you know what the effect was on that dog. He never barked at me again. I was the guy that saved him from under the fence. But then notice also what happened.

I looked up and I saw that the kids had left, they came running down outside the house, thank you for saving our dog. This is a very good person. We want to go and be where he is. And so the family started coming and attending, you know where it was that I was giving my sermons and my lectures and the entire thing changed because The way I first of all expressed anger towards their dog, and then how it changed. And I guess the only thing we would say is that bad anger or sinful anger always complicates matters. So what should we do with anger?

Be angry, do not send meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. So this is kind of a roadmap, what does it tell us to do? You can be angry, and you don't have to do it in a bad way. Well, what's the key meditate within your heart on your bed? So where do you go? Well, where your bed is, was the only only padded place maybe in your in your house?

Yeah, maybe a padded mattress there. And so you're in there and you're meditating. And it tells us to do this on our bed by by ourselves. So what kind of questions should we ask while we're meditating? Now I want to give you an assignment with this With this presentation on anchor, and the assignment is Psalm 105, Psalm 105. And I want you to read through that.

And I want you to ask, how angry is this person? What can I learn about anger, anger here, and I want you to read through that Psalm and see what's happening. how angry is the person who is the person attempting to react to. And then finally, when you get down to the end of the Psalm, you're going to find out why it is the person was angry, and what the real issues were. And it may not be unlike the angry anger that you are experiencing. So after you read this, Psalm 109 and go through that, just kind of process it.

And we'll give you a list of questions that can maybe spur you on while you're reading that. You don't have to be a believer to read it. It's ancient literature but let me just tell you this about the Psalms. The first five books of the Bible are all the stories and and the Psalms are divided into five sections that go with the first five books of the Bible. So it's kind of like the soundtrack for these stories. Okay, so now let's go back to our Psalm, Psalm four, four through eight, it said, Be angry, do not send meditate within your heart on your bed and be still remember we talked about that.

And then it says, Well, what are you doing in there? offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in God. So how is it that you get through anger, this is a spiritual approach, offered the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in God. In the Old Testament system, they had a sanctuary where they would come and things that had gone wrong between them and God or others, they would hand over by putting their hand on a sacrificial animal and confessing all the bad things, transferring it from them. To that animal, then that animal had to die because of the bad things that happen. And there was a record of what had been done that was put first of all, in the outer court, and then in the inner part of the sanctuary, and finally, in the most holy place where God Himself was, and it took a year for that to happen.

So the whole point is, God does not take things that happen to you or things that you've done lightly. There's a whole process where he takes advantage or takes care of those things. But here's the other point. That process saves you from having to deal with it all year you handed it over, so you no longer had to deal with it. And then you knew that it was going to be dealt with Does that make sense? So offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust not in yourself.

Not in the fact that you can beat somebody up or you can put it in your own hands or you can out think it, but you put your trust in the Lord. Now if you're reading your Bible and you say that word Lord, it's all uppercase l o r d, and that means the judge the one who can make a true judgment. There's different ways that the name Lord or spell but you're putting your trust in someone who really can do things right and what happens. I'm going to give this to you another song for you. Psalm chapter four verses seven through eight, same song that we've just been looking at. And what happens here in Psalm chapter four, verse seven and eight.

I bet you're gonna like this. You have put gladness in my heart, would you like to have gladness in your heart instead of anchor. You have put gladness in my heart more than in the season that their grain and wine increase, so it's better than Thanksgiving time. There are many who say, who will show us any good, Lord, lift up the light of your countenance. And then notice what happens. I will both lie down in peace.

And sleep no more insomnia, no more restlessness for you alone. Oh, Lord, make me too well in safety