Anger: one of your greatest enemies

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  – ROMANS 12:18

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” the English playwright William Congreve is said to have written, but by and large, women handle anger better than men. Men with fiery tempers have a 10 percent greater risk of heart flutter, which leads to strokes, which lead to the back door of the mortuary. Furthermore, men who are hostile are 30 percent more likely to develop heart disease, which also shortens their lives.

One thing that the study demonstrated quite conclusively is that the notion that you need to get anger out of your system by venting your emotions – blowing off steam, telling people what you think, yelling and screaming – is totally inaccurate. The bottom line is that living with anger shortens your life whether you are male or female.

It is no wonder that Paul advised, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). True, there is a disclaimer that you find in that conditional phrase, “if it is possible.” There are times when peace is not a possibility, yet you can deal with issues in such a way that your blood pressure doesn’t skyrocket. You can be angry without sinning as Paul advised (see Ephesians 4:26).

Long ago the wise man wrote, “When a man is trying to please God, God makes even his worst enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7, tlb). When you live with anger, you are living with a deadly killer because anger is like a chemical poison that becomes resident in your system and gradually chokes the life out of you.

If you enjoy life, learn to walk away from anger and let God deal with the person who angers you. It’s the key to living longer and enjoying life more.

Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.