“Becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry. We choose!” – Elder Lynn G. Robbins member of the Quorum of the Seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
This week I had the great opportunity in my Marriage class to study a talk given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. As I read, I thought back to my childhood and how much I have matured over the years.
You see, growing up, I actually had quite a bit of a temper. There were times when I yelled and screamed at my brother so much that I actually lost my voice for a few hours. I used to fight and argue with him on a regular basis. I often felt like I just couldn’t help it. My brother just got me so mad sometimes.
But it turns out I have been lying to myself all these years. Elder Robbins has said, “A cunning part of [Satan’s] strategy is to dissociate anger from agency, making us believe that we are victims of an emotion that we cannot control.” Yeah, Satan can be pretty convincing. I let myself fall to anger and went after my brother each time he agitated me. I have thrown numerous dolls, shoes, and other various items at my brother whenever he ducked out of my reach.
As I got older, I have learned that the Lord has given us agency. In fact, Elder Robbins has said, “The Lord expects us to make the choice not to become angry.” The Lord has indeed given us a choice not to get angry. It has been tough, but I have been working on my temper. I would like to become a better person and treat others with fairness rather than anger. After all, Elder Robbins has also mentioned, “Anger is a yielding to Satan’s influence by surrendering our self-control. It is the thought-sin that leads to hostile feelings or behavior.”
Jesus Christ never acts out of anger. He provides the perfect example on how we should treat each other, especially our spouse and other loved ones. Dr. H.W. Goddard, author of Drawing Heaven Into Your Marriage, once said, "We can follow Christ's example and act to serve and redeem our partners, or we can crab and complain that we have not gotten what we deserve."
Another thing that I really liked about Elder Robbins talk is how he gave hope to all the readers and listeners by teaching us the fact that just by learning the connection between anger and agency can help us get better. Elder Robbins said, “Understanding the connection between agency and anger is the first step in eliminating it from our lives.”
One of the final things Elder Robbins stated was, “We can choose not to become angry. And we can make that choice today, right now.” The reason why I love this is because we don’t have to wait to make ourselves better. We can start immediately. I know I still have little bouts of anger with my mom and a few other people from time to time. Some may not believe it, but it does happen. I know I can take control of my anger today. Right now.
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