In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough

Recently we had a couple come to us for help. They had been married for only three weeks. With arms folded, one sat at one end of the couch and the other at the other end. They were very angry; ready to end the marriage there and then!

Child and spouse abuse is rarely a premeditated thing; in most cases it follows a situation where anger pushes aside common sense and lashes out at the first thing it sees. Tragically, that 'first thing' is often a loved one.

In order to help this couple we had to find out what caused them to be so angry with each other. Both of them displayed the very thing that we believe is the root cause of not all, but a lot of anger. Fear!

Fear is a close relative of anger

Perhaps that is a foreign concept to you. Neither the husband nor wife could see the root cause of their anger until we were able to point it out to them. Anger seems to do that to you. It blinds you from the truth! It causes you to look for someone else to blame. I always say once you are able to see and own the real cause of your problem you are over half way to solving it.

Sometimes fears hide themselves and you have to look closer. For example a man likes to succeed, right? Push his buttons and see if he doesn’t react as a result of a fear of failure.

A woman likes to be affirmed, right? Push her buttons and see if she isn’t deep down afraid of rejection. Come on, we all like to be accepted whether it is through what we do or how we look.

In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough,

Child and spouse abuse is rarely a premeditated thing; in most cases it follows a situation where anger pushes aside common sense and lashes out at the first thing it sees. Tragically, that 'first thing' is often a loved one.

In order to help this couple we had to find out what caused them to be so angry with each other. Both of them displayed the very thing that we believe is the root cause of not all, but a lot of anger. Fear!

Fear is a close relative of anger

Perhaps that is a foreign concept to you. Neither the husband nor wife could see the root cause of their anger until we were able to point it out to them. Anger seems to do that to you. It blinds you from the truth! It causes you to look for someone else to blame. I always say once you are able to see and own the real cause of your problem you are over half way to solving it.

Sometimes fears hide themselves and you have to look closer. For example a man likes to succeed, right? Push his buttons and see if he doesn’t react as a result of a fear of failure.

A woman likes to be affirmed, right? Push her buttons and see if she isn’t deep down afraid of rejection. Come on, we all like to be accepted whether it is through what we do or how we look.

In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough

Fear is a close relative of anger

Perhaps that is a foreign concept to you. Neither the husband nor wife could see the root cause of their anger until we were able to point it out to them. Anger seems to do that to you. It blinds you from the truth! It causes you to look for someone else to blame. I always say once you are able to see and own the real cause of your problem you are over half way to solving it.

Sometimes fears hide themselves and you have to look closer. For example a man likes to succeed, right? Push his buttons and see if he doesn’t react as a result of a fear of failure.

A woman likes to be affirmed, right? Push her buttons and see if she isn’t deep down afraid of rejection. Come on, we all like to be accepted whether it is through what we do or how we look.

In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough

Sometimes fears hide themselves and you have to look closer. For example a man likes to succeed, right? Push his buttons and see if he doesn’t react as a result of a fear of failure.

A woman likes to be affirmed, right? Push her buttons and see if she isn’t deep down afraid of rejection. Come on, we all like to be accepted whether it is through what we do or how we look.

In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough

In the husband’s case he had been married twice before and both times he had lost a lot of money. Fear of it happening again was the root cause of his outbursts of anger.

Of course, those sudden flare-ups of temper, while destructive enough, are not the most vicious forms of anger. Much more deadly is the "controlled burn”, the seething crater of hatred and spite contained within the heart and fed daily with fresh accusations, either real or imagined. Given the right set of circumstances, one might lash out and in the process bring hurt where none was intended.

In the Bible the apostle Paul spoke not of the possibility of anger, but of what to do in its presence. "Go ahead and be angry”, he said in Ephesians 4:26. “But don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry, and don't go to bed angry.” (The Message)

If we are very hurt and very angry, our anger can overcome us - like the couple that came for help. What do we do then? Although there is much written on anger management I feel the most important of all is to forgive the person who has hurt you and deal with the cause of your anger.

Why is it important to forgive when you have been wronged?

Forgiveness releases you

In the Bible Jesus said: “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37). The literal translation of this Bible verse is ‘release and you will be released’.

If you really forgive someone, you no longer blame that person, even though they may be blameworthy. If you do not blame a person, you cannot resent them. If you do not resent them you cannot hold any bitterness in your heart. If you do not hold bitterness then you do not get all emotionally tied up with anger and hate towards that person.

Forgiveness is a Choice

In Biblical terms, forgiveness is the loving, voluntary cancellat