Good and Angry: Letting Go of Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

You know the feeling. Some call it "seeing red," others say they are "burned up," and of course you can say much worse when you are good and angry. Being angry doesn't feel so bad when it starts-you get a rush of adrenaline with energy to make your point and to keep making it. But the after party in your mind and heart isn't so great. There is an overwhelming sense of irritation that usually is reflected in how we talk to those we live and work with, the complaining we can't control, and maybe even a settled bitterness to a person or a group of person. We know those things are negative and affect us negatively, but how do we let them go? We start by understanding the source of our anger-something important to us isn't right. We want it to be right! We want justice-sometimes for ourselves and sometimes for others.

You might be surprised to learn that God gets angry too. He sees things in this world that aren't right and he wants justice too. But God's anger doesn't devolve into manipulation or trying to control others to get his own way. Instead his anger is good-it's redemptive. He steps into our world to make wrongs right. He sends his own Son to die so that we could be right with him. This is both our model for change and our power to change. We go to our heavenly Father for help. We look closely at the roots of our anger. And we learn a new way, a redemptive way, of handling life when it goes wrong and gets on our last nerve. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.