Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)
Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense. (Proverbs 19:11, AMP)
Proverbs 16:24 AMP Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body. (Proverbs 16:24, AMP)
A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, NAS95)
Anger, like stress, can produce negative changes in the body that cannot be ignored. The dashboard on your car has warning lights that tell you when something is wrong. Our bodies also have warning signs that tell us when all is not well in our spirit. Anger has been connected with a long list of diseases such as ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, impotence, infertility, headaches, thyroid disorders, neck spasms, and even cancer. These can be the warning lights that tell us to check our spirit!
Dr. S. I. McMillen once wrote, “A mind upset makes a body sick. With every passing year, researchers find more and more ways that the mind produces sickness in the body. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that two-thirds of doctor visits are for ‘stress-related conditions.’ In 1981 scientists at the University of North Carolina studied hostility levels in 255 medical students. Over the years they watched the doctors with high hostility die like raging bulls in a bull ring. By middle age, 13 percent of the high-hostility men had died. In contrast, only 2 percent with low hostility had died. The men with high hostility had more hypertension and five times more heart attacks. Chronic anger had raised their blood pressure and clogged their coronary arteries. Long term anger makes for a short-term life.”
What about the myth that venting our anger will be healthier for us? The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology has reported that “many studies suggest that ventilation doesn’t work. One study evaluated one hundred engineers, recently laid off when their company downsized. They had transferred from another state and had been promised three-year jobs; but after only one year, they had all been fired. Researchers spent time with each man and discovered that the men who discussed the wrongs done them became much angrier after ventilating their anger. On the other hand, those who had not ventilated anger were less angry.”
“Getting habitually angry is like taking a small dose of some slow-acting poison-arsenic, for example- every day of your life.” (Dr. Redfrod Williams, Anger Kills)
Sit down today and evaluate your anger warning lights. Ask God to show you when you are getting angry and not seeing it in yourself. After God shows you, have the courage to get rid of your anger.
Other Resources:
None of These Diseases by S. I. McMillen, M.D.