A Major Block to Growth in Christ
“It was all about me and I didn’t care about nothing else.” So said Alexander, as he shared about his journey with anger in a letter he wrote to me.
When he was seven years old, Alexander had already been kicked out of two schools because of his anger. He was involved with the law before his teen years. As an adult, he’s destroyed his family, lost his kids, and is now incarcerated. All because of anger.
The courts wanted him to take a class on Uprooting Anger but he didn’t think he needed it. In Alexander’s words, “I was in complete denial.”
But he wrote to say that he was glad he took the class because it showed him that he had a lot of anger built up. He was grateful to learn how to recognize the triggers of his anger and to know how to deal with them. He is seeing life from a new perspective, and he’s grateful.
Alexander’s story is dramatic and I’m grateful Uprooting Anger is making a difference. I pray that he will stick with it and somebody will encourage and help him in his journey.
But I’ve gotten similar responses from individuals studying the book in church groups.
Even when those around them had no doubts, they didn’t realize they had a problem with anger–all while anger was destroying their health and their families.
In fact, Uprooting Anger was written because leaders of churches kept begging us to take their out-of-control sons and rehabilitate them. As we talked with the parents, we discovered deep-rooted anger–and the parents were blind to it. Their anger led to their child’s rebellion, but they could only see the problems of their sons.
We are often blind to our short-comings.
Alexander understands the problem. The reason we have such blind spots is that, “It [is] all about me and I [don’t] care about nothing else.” We see life from our perspective and we don’t consider anybody else. More accurately, we don’t care about anything else. Our love for Self overshadows our concerns for others.
Self-centeredness—expecting the world to revolve around me—makes me blind to the fact that I’m angry. It also makes me blind to the damage I am causing others.
We all have blind spots. I was blind to my anger until I began the study to help others.
The problem with a blind spot is that if we don’t see a problem, we don’t deal with it. It’s like termites in the floor. As long as they stay hidden, they cause destruction. When you find them, you attack and get rid of them.
We need for the light to shine on our hidden things. If we want to grow to be more Christ-like, periodically, like David, we need to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23-24).
When the blinders came off Alexander’s eyes and he admitted his problem, and he gained hope and help for the first time. Now, his life is being transformed through the Word and the Spirit of God.
The Lord is our salvation and redeemer. He makes all things new—when submit them to Him.
First, we have to take our blinders off and admit that we have a problem.
**Learn more about the Bible Study Uprooting Anger
What problem have you failed to recognize and how were the blinders removed?
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