The Christian Newsletter

Unnormalizing Wrath

When we think of wrath often fire is not far behind in our minds. I suppose for a very a long time the element fire and the human emotion wrath have been intertwined together. When we think of fire, we think of an element that is wild, uncontrollable, and even dangerous. But when we think of wrath, we think of an emotion that scares those around us. It's deadly and so strong that even the best of us falls victims to it. 

Wrath is the one of the seven deadly sins, and for very good reasons. 

Take it from these ladies that wrath is nothing to normalize. 

Stacy: 

My father struggled with wrath and so I was raised around a man who thought it was acceptable to throw things, scream, and hit things like a toddler having a tantrum. Pathetic behavior, laughable behavior even now. But it was real, so real that I, myself sometimes struggle with wrath. I was an angry child. Filled with so much hate I'm surprised I ever made it this far in life. I felt like it was me against the world, the world owed me and therefore I took it out on those around me. I would scream at my family, 'I hate you! I wish you would just die!' etc. I'm truly ashamed of my childish behavior and wish I could change how I acted but I can't, I can only work to be better.

Emma: 

Sometimes I get so angry that I feel like I'm going to explode. I'll grab the sides of my head and just scream. I'll scratch and punch myself to try and get relief from the wrath that is drowning me. It hardly ever works, but I would rather hurt myself instead hurting those around me. 

Zoey:

I feel like it's not acceptable for me to feel emotions in my family. Everyone around me is allowed to feel however they want but the moment I even dare to break a sweat or get angry I'm told I'm being dramatic and even at times when I feel upset or get angry, I tell myself that too. It's so embedded into my head that I even question my emotions. My family tells me that I don't show a lot of emotions and I nearly laugh every time because they are so clueless that they are the reason I forbid myself from showing what I am feeling.

Nova:

I'm so sick of being the villain. I work so hard to be good enough for my family and the moment I step out of line or dare to get angry it's like I'm nothing but a burden to them. A wolf hovering over their perfect herd of sheep. But I'm not a wolf, I love my family more than anything and even though they treat me like utter crap most of the time, I would still do everything in my power to protect them. 

These ladies speak nothing but the truth about wrath, often it is normalized that being 'angry' is cool and it's not. We shouldn't allow our emotions to lead us, to control us, and ultimately ruin us. In Jeremiah 17:9 it says, 'the heart is deceitful above all things.' 

I encourage you, when you feel so angry that you want to hurt something or someone, take a moment and step back from the situation. You don't have to be the loudest in the fight, and you don't NEED to be right. What are you going to gain from winning a fight? Five seconds of glory before the whole useless fight is forgotten? It's not worth it. When you feel angry flee to God and He will heal you.

Join us next week where we will be 'Unnormalizing Greed'.