Negative Emotion

Anger, bitterness, resentment.

These three words typically invoke similar feelings in us when we read them. We associate them as negative emotions, I argue however, that they are not ALL negative.

Anger in and of itself is a neutral emotion. Sure, we typically feel this emotion in a negative situation, when we feel that we have been wronged, slighted, or mistreated in some way. But the truth of the matter is, what we do with our anger defines whether or not it is positive or negative.

In high school I struggled a lot with anger, at a lot of things, for a lot of reasons, and I mostly bottled that anger up. It usually came out on the basketball court and for awhile that was a pretty decent outlet. But then I became captain and was suddenly the person who was accountable for the whole team, I was the mediator between a whole bunch of angry, hormonal, teenage girls and the refs we thought were wrong. It taught me that my anger was unjust, unprovoked, and quite frankly, irrelevant.

There are a lot of things in life that make us angry because we cannot control them. I began praying about my anger on a daily basis, studying it in scripture, and looking for a way to let it go. *Elsa? Samantha?*

The cliche saying "let go and let God" became my mantra. I learned to take a deep breath and release my anger, or when justified, pray about a positive action to take. I began to learn how to wield my anger as a tool for good, to motivate myself for good.

Honestly, in some cases, my anger wasn't let go, and it has become this festering bitterness and resentment. These two feelings, the product of anger that has not been dealt with, began to eat me up inside. I was holding on to this grudge, against certain unnamed parties in my life. It began to tear me apart, and frankly I still struggle with it. But Paul exclaims in Ephesians 4 "In your anger, DO NOT SIN, do not let the sun go down on your anger." I've let many sunsets go down while clinging to my anger and in turn it has kept me in a constant state of sin, grieving the Holy Spirit on a daily basis along with it. (Been studying Ephesians 4, can you tell??)

So what on EARTH is my point? Anger is not necessarily bad, it is what we do with it that defines us. Our actions designate whether the emotion is positive or negative and in worst case scenarios, it can turn into an ugly, festering pit of sin that is keeping us from growing in grace with God by our sides.

Learn to forgive, as we are commanded. Learn to love, through the anger, amidst the bitterness. Learn to let go of the resentment that has been weighing on you, for however long it may be. In the long run, our anger, bitterness, and resentment gain us nothing for Christ. It is simply our human nature winning, allowing the devil to gain a foothold in our lives.

In the typical Thislightofmind fashion, my thoughts are short, a bit scattered, and truly from my heart. Here’s my question for you all. Are you holding on to your anger? Are you allowing it to weaken your relationship with our Savior? If so, I pray that you can turn it over to Him, learn to deal with it well, and give God the glory and honor He deserves in each of our lives!

Xo as always,

Ais