We don't have to be angry. It is a choice. Actually it is a sign of selfishness and arrogance because we have expectations about how we should or deserve to be treated. You can put that behind you by reading the bible. God says it is our nature to be selfish, but he would like for us to be selfless. That means caring for others first. It sounds similar, but it

On a particularly bad day when I was already running late for work I totally lost it when I was cut off by an SUV that nearly hit my car. I was so enraged that I rolled the window down and had a few salacious words with the driver while giving him a one finger salute. Unfortunately, I also had my 13 year old daughter in the car on the way to drop her off at school. The look on her face was so disturbing that I knew that I needed some help to control my anger.

I wish that I could say that I am feeling fabulous and "outta site" and full of positive thoughts and feelings right now, but I happen to be an honest person (sometimes to my detriment) and I can't lie well. So how am I REALLY feeling, you ask? CRABBY. I'm being visited by my dear and old friend, PMS, and she's making me feel murderous one minute, and pathetically weep-into-a-hankie sad the next. I'm guessing that wherever you are on the female hormone continuum, you can relate to what I'm talking about.

Anger is the emotion most familiar to men. "Anger is the one strong emotion men typically express," say Richard Meth and Robert S. Pasiak in their book, Men In Therapy. It is right at the surface of the skin, not very threatening, and it validates the masculine image. Anger is readily modeled for boys in their homes, on television, in the movies, and in society. Almost all boys have childhood heroes whose images are built around anger and violence.

Despite the fact that boys are bombarded with models of male anger

What is the difference between anger and resentment? My Webster's New World Dictionary defines "anger" as "a feeling of displeasure and hostility that a person has because of being injured, mistreated, opposed, etc." It defines "to resent" as "to feel or show displeasure and hurt or indignation over or toward." The way I want to use these words today is: anger is an active feeling, but resentment is when we get stuck thinking over and over about what someone did. Resentment is more long-term. I like the word "indignation" in regard to resentment.

Recently, I've begun to receive a lot of emails about in laws (particularly mothers and sisters in law) who the writer perceives is "trying to destroy my marriage" or "trying to drive a wedge between my spouse and myself." Often, the writer (which is usually a woman) will tell me that the mother in law never liked her, has never accepted her, and will never pass up any opportunity to cause trouble or to make the husband chose sides or to stir up some issue that is going to create tension and drama. This is a tough situation. Your husband did not choose his parents and, like it or not, he's stuck with them.

Do you remember that movie called Anger Management starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler? Adam played the passive aggressive bullied-by-his-boss type and Jack played the anger management guru who ran anger management classes and whose job in the film it seems was to try and get Adam angry!

And boy did Jack succeed! There was the 'transvestite in the back of the cab' scene (played 'manfully' by Woody Harrelson), and Jack even got

Anger can be a destructive emotion and yet we all experience it from time to time. When we feel angry, it is because something outside of us has triggered us and usually we are left feeling 'victimized' by that external event.

Society, especially if we have a religious background, may have taught us that it is 'sinful' to express our anger and we need to remain calm'. Pretending that we are 'above' anger can also be very damaging to our emotional health. What tends to happen is that we suppress those anger emotions.

Ephesians 4:26-27

Today we'll discover God's principle for preventing long-term resentment. The key is to deal with this dangerous emotion promptly.

It's important to realize that believers can have moments of anger and still remain right with God. Yet anger that is allowed to linger and fester is an opportunity for Satan. He quickly plants justifications in our mind: That person deserves to be yelled at. You shouldn't be treated that way!

A righteous life has no room for lingering anger, whether in the form of rage or resentment. Fury that hardens in our hearts becomes a stronghold for Satan.

The fleshly method for "curing" wrath is to either let it out (rage) or suppress it (resentment). Neither is effective for solving problems or making an angry person feel better.

God's way of dealing with this dangerous emotion dissolves it and sets the believer