{"id":3970,"date":"2013-11-26T23:40:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T05:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/?page_id=3970"},"modified":"2013-11-26T23:40:03","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T05:40:03","slug":"6-anger-and-resentment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/6-anger-and-resentment","title":{"rendered":"6. Anger and Resentment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI<\/em> can to some extent control my acts. I have no direct control over my temperament. If what we are matters even more than what we do\u2014if indeed if what we do matters chiefly as evidence of what we are\u2014then it follows that the change which I most need to undergo is a change that my own direct, voluntary efforts cannot bring about.\u201d \u2014<\/em>C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity<\/span><\/p>\n

We all get angry. When we get angry\u00a0our blood pressure goes up. Our heart rate increases. The rise of blood pressure and heart rate can be substantial. There is\u00a0a significant surge of\u00a0adrenalin. There are things happening throughout the body and chemistry of the brain that, if unresolved, can result in unhealthy consequences. Anger increases our level of stress. It is important and necessary that we do something with our anger.\u00a0The question is, how do we manage our anger in a way that is good for us, as well as for those we interact with while we\u2019re angry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anger and, in particular, rage tend to \u201crequire\u201d an aggressive response in order to relieve the stress caused by anger. According to Science, there is actually a hormone called cortisol that is released when we respond to anger and rage. It seems as though the more aggressive the response, the more cortisol is released, and the more quickly and easily we seem to come down from the chemical spikes in the brain.\u00a0Whenever, what scientists call, homeostasis (biochemical and overall physiological balance) is disturbed significantly by stress,\u00a0we can experience substantial difficulty to our health. Coronary functions can be damaged and\u00a0weakened. That is how stress and anxiety lead to heart disease. Anger and rage produce stress, and when prolonged, take us down a road of physical and emotional health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Add to this the problem of our selfish sin nature that has severely infected the GO and STOP\u00a0systems of our brain. Anger and rage fuel the GO system and produce an aggressive response of the STOP system when faced with a threat.<\/span><\/p>\n

What this lesson is not is a “the devil made me do it” or “that’s how God made me” exercise. What it does do is help participants to gain increased understanding into how their brains work in order to realize that, in the heat of a moment, there are automatic chemical responses in the brain that cannot be realistically controlled, hopefully raising the awareness of their need for a Savior in Jesus Christ to do in them what they cannot do for themselves. It is in a transformative relationship with God that they are empowered to confront and overcome the scientific realities beyond their control. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI can to some extent control my acts. I have no direct control over my temperament. If what we are matters even more than what we do\u2014if indeed if what we do matters chiefly as evidence of what we are\u2014then … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3970","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3971,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3970\/revisions\/3971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}