What Do You Do With Anger?
by Dr. Gary Chapman   

When is the last time you felt angry?  How did you handle your anger?  Was it a pleasant experience for you?  How about the people around you?   

All of us have seen people explode.  Many of us have exploded.  On the other hand, many Christians pride themselves in holding their anger inside.  But internalized anger is bad for your health.

The biblical challenge is that when we experience anger, we are to process it in a positive way.  That may mean gently confronting the person who stimulated our anger.  Or it may mean asking God to forgive us for being so "bent out of shape" over such a minor matter. 

Learning to process anger in a timely and healthy way is one of the first lessons for healthy relationships.   

Article written by Dr. Gary Chapman.  Based on the book,  Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion In a Healthy Way  by Gary Chapman. Published by Moody Publishing. To see a complete list of Dr. Chapman's resources, click here. 

Communication Tools
by Willie Batson 

A significant way of increasing positive feelings and actions is with four communication tools found in this verse from Song of Songs in the Bible:

My dove in the clefts of the rock,  in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face,

let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.   Song of Songs 2:14

Tool #1: A Desire to Communicate

Notice what the husband says in the verse above, "show me your face, let me hear your voice."  He wanted her to come out from wherever she was and talk to him.  He found her voice pleasing.  He had a desire for communication.

Desire will result in making time to talk.  One of the little foxes in many marriages today is busyness.  It is the nemesis of healthy communication.  So much of our talk takes place on the run.   

Our busy talk can trick us into thinking we're having meaningful conversations, when all we are trying to do is make it to the end of the day.

Article is based on the book, Tools for a Great Marriage  by Willie Batson. Published by Family Builders Ministry, copyright 2008.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
   Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
   for I will yet praise him,
   my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:11