Anger and Life

Timothy Tin

With the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine, there seem to be some improvement in the pandemic crisis in Los Angeles. Many restaurants have outdoor dining in the parking lots for their customers. At 5:40 pm on February 3, two customers went to a restaurant in Pasadena. One of them had a dispute with the waiter because he refused to wear a mask. Suddenly, this angry customer pulled out a gun and rushed directly into the kitchen. Instead of taking money from the register, he took fried chicken and waffles from the kitchen and escaped! The four restaurant employees were so scared that they fled from the scene and reported to the police. While this case is still under investigation, the two robbers must be enjoying their fried chicken at the moment! (https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/man-robs-pasadena-restaurant-of-chicken-and-waffles-at-gunpoint/)

It seems that in a society ravaged by COVID-19, there have been many abnormal phenomena in interpersonal relationships. No one would believe that these two customers would use guns to rob food because of hunger! However, recently there has been a continuous increase in the number of cases of gun fire due to disputes on highway and parking lot. Domestic violence and shooting incidents are also increasing. This shows that in addition to control the spread of the virus, we must also control personal emotions and anger! Take a step back, hold your anger, think about the situation, then the conflict might be easier to resolve.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, it is best not to get angry easily in life, because anger affects the liver. Therefore Chinese people often use “liver fire” to describe people’s anger. Why is human anger related to the liver? It turns out that ancient people believed that the liver is of the wood element, and the heart is of the fire element. The ancients used “fire” to describe uncontrollable human anger. Once a person gets angry, “fire” will burn the “liver”! Once anger broke out, it is like the body got burn by fire, not only burning itself, but also hurting people around. That customer couldn’t control his anger, so he used this uncontrollable anger to terrorize the restaurant staff with a gun. Although he could escape for a while, he could never escape the anger in his heart!

There are some people who don’t lose their temper and blow up, but they often tend to get angry because of small things. Anger over little things can accumulate and make one sick. Why do some people get angry because of small things? It is because they often care about every trivial thing, and gradually become a petty person, friends will distance from them. Therefore, whether it is big temper or anger over small things, we need to properly control them, and don’t let the anger burst willingly. The most effective way to control fire is to use water to extinguish it, but what kind of water should be used for human anger?

There is a kind of “living water” that can keep people in a calm state, not to get angry easily, and can maintain their emotional stability even in an environment surrounded by people who are emotionally unstable!  What is this “living water”? Where can I get it? It is in the wise words of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”(John 7:37-38) When people accept Jesus Christ as their savior, their sins are forgiven. They will no longer care about small things, because they have received God’s love and acceptance, so they can easily forgive and accept others. They would read the Bible and learn to minimize major problems, and turn minor problems into nothing. Since their hearts are gradually filled with the living water of wisdom, their emotions are often in control, thus will not lose their temper. Hope you can believe in Jesus Christ as soon as possible and let Him changes your life, so that you can live a life that overcomes anger! The Bible says, “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

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(Author: Christian Alliance Bible Church in Los Angeles, CA)

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