Are you an angry parent?
As we talked about in a recent podcast episode, you can learn to control your anger as a parent. But we want to offer you additional help in this post.
The Bible tells many stories of people who didn’t handle their anger well. In fact, the very first family experienced terrible losses after anger got out of control (read Genesis 4 for the story).
Anger is a human emotion, and all of us have experienced it. You can learn to handle it better as a parent. Here are a few tips for you.
Handling Anger as a Parent
Here are several ideas to help you handle your anger.
Practice forgiveness.
Parents who get angry often store up shame and sorrow inside about their actions. But God is ready and willing to forgive you as you confess your anger problem to him. You can go to him as frequently as needed to receive forgiveness.
You also need to forgive yourself for the times you have gotten angry in the past. If you slip up again in the future, you’ll need to forgive yourself again. Practice forgiveness every day so you develop a more compassionate look at yourself. Then you’ll be more ready to offer love to others.
Ask God for help.
The Holy Spirit is your helper for anger. One of his jobs is to remind us about what Jesus said, so we can grow in Christlikeness. As the day begins, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of Jesus’ example when you are tempted to become angry.
You can ask God to bring verses to mind when you are angry. Look up verses to help you practice self-control, such as Prov. 16:32. Memorize it, put it on your phone, or write it on a sticky note. The more you meditate on it, the more ready you’ll be to practice self-control when things heat up.
Role play new situations.
To overcome angry situations, you can role play different ways to act. Think about the last few times your anger got triggered as a parent. If you could do those situations over again, what would you do differently? Practicing calm, self-controlled responses ahead of time will help you manage your anger in the moment. Be sure to practice apologizing to your child and asking for forgiveness. This position of humility will strengthen the bond you have with your child rather than weaken it.
When You Need Help Handling Your Anger
There is no shame in reaching out for help with your anger. In fact, if you learn to handle your anger now, you’ll model to your child how people can change for the better. You’ll set a better example that they can follow in their own families someday. Tackling your anger is an important step that can change the future.
A Christian counselor can help you handle your anger. Christian counselors are trained to be compassionate and objective. You can have a free, one-time consultation with a counselor at Focus on the Family by checking out this link. Then they will refer you to a Christian counselor in your area.
The steps you take to overcome your anger now will bless your family. You can do this with help from God and others!
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