A Searching and Fearless Anger Inventory

James 1:19-20

Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger; God’s saving justice is never served by human anger;

Commentary:

When I first started my journey into recovery from pornography addiction, it was always recommended to do an anger inventory (Step 4: We take a search and fearless moral inventory of ourselves). I never thought I was anger nor did I think it was associated with my lust for pornography. Father Brian Brandfield from his book Living the Beatitudes: A Journey to Life in Christ offers a justification for doing a searching and fearless anger inventory of ourselves. Father Brandfield offers this on the link between anger and lust:

“Anger and lust are often closely aligned. Non-conjugal sexual acting out is often more about anger that it is about lust. This is true in particular for men. Many men who battle with lust are actually battling with anger. Sex and aggression are closely linked in men even at the hormonal level. Because of the relatively intense, rapid, and physical nature of the male sex drive, men can unconsciously use their sexuality as an explosive outlet for the amorphus and undetected anger.”