Skip to content Learning How to Stop Stress Before it Starts, Part 2 Nov 26 · 29 min ...more
Learning How to Stop Stress Before it Starts, Part 2
November 26, 2025 · 29 min
We hear a lot today about reducing stress and the health benefits of living with less of it. How do you do that? Chip walks you through some simple steps you can take to gain victory over stress.
Series Overcoming Emotions that Destroy November 26, 2025 · 29 min · Overcoming Emotions that Destroy
We hear a lot today about reducing stress and the health benefits of living with less of it. How do you do that? Chip walks you through some simple steps you can take to gain victory over stress. ...more Show the full description Show less We hear a lot today about reducing stress and the health benefits of living with less of it. How do you do that? Chip walks you through some simple steps you can take to gain victory over stress.
Series Overcoming Emotions that Destroy Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
618K followers
Chip Ingram is an American Christian pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry.
618K followers
Practical Steps to Reduce Stress and Anger 0:01 We hear a lot today about reducing stress and the health benefits of living with less stress. The question is, how do you do it? How do you keep your cool when the pressure heats up? How do you stop0:13 stress before it starts? Don't go away.0:18 Thanks for being with us for this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip serves as our bible teacher for this global teaching and discipleship ministry, helping Christians develop an0:29 authentic faith. Well, in just a minute, you'll hear the second half of Chip's talk, learning how to stop stress before it starts, which is from our series overcoming emotions that destroy. And be sure to keep listening0:41 after the teaching as Chip shares some additional insights that'll help you in your struggle to control anger. Don't miss it. Well, with all that said, here's Chip as he begins by continuing to unpack the ways we can0:53 minimize stress. Let's get going.0:56 Number 4, admit mistakes and imperfections. If we could just liberate 1 another, 1 of the core values we only have 4 at Living on the Edge, and we did it with the1:08 acronym LOTE. And, the L is for live it out. We just gotta be what we want others to become. And, the O is for own your stuff.1:20 Don't blame. Don't tell someone else. It wasn't on time. It was you're late. We I love it when someone says, 1 of the new guys that's working with us, and and I get this1:32 email. Hey, Chip. Sorry, man. Haven't done this in years. I thought my plane was to leave at this time. It's no 1 else's fault. I didn't look at the thing. I missed my plane. I'll miss the meeting. I1:44 blew it. Sorry. I wrote him an email back. I said, hey, Rick. Let me tell you this. You made my day. Thanks so much. You didn't tell me it was someone else's fault. You didn't tell me your1:56 assistant blew it. You didn't tell me that you'd renegotiated things and thought it might be better to come a second day, but you're really sorry. There was no smoke. There was no mirrors. You made a mistake. Welcome to2:05 the human race. You owned your stuff. Way to go. Keep it up. Do you realize how much stress we're under to slightly bend the truth, to say the2:17 traffic was really heavy? Of course it was very heavy, and you left a half hour late. Right? You know, you would really love to do it. You would never wanna do that in a million years. Right? But you can't?2:30 You know, just you you you forgot? How about that 1? You know, like, you know what? I forgot to call you back. There was 1, I was checking my messages from somewhere, and I thought2:42 and I called the guy, and I and this is this is human, I think. I thought to myself, okay. I was busy. I was traveling. There's got to be a legitimate excuse. This is an important relationship and it's been 42:54 days. And then God had this little thought from the Holy Spirit. Why don't you just tell Him you forgot? Isn't that what happened? Yeah. That doesn't3:06 sound very spiritual, Lord. Yeah, I know. But, is it the truth? Yeah. Do you think human beings ever forget Chip? Yeah. Why don't you just tell him you forgot?3:18 Okay. So I called this guy and I said, hey, is it really 1 of those real important type things? And I said, hi, this is Chip, and, by the way, I realized it's been a number of days and, you know, sounded pretty urgent,3:29 and I just forgot. And you know, the other end of the phone was it wasn't like, you are a terrible person. You will now be sent to if there's a purgatory, you will now3:41 go there. I mean, it was just, hey man, I understand. What happens? Admit your mistakes. 5, laugh more often. Don't take life3:53 or yourself so seriously. Proverbs 17 22 says, a cheerful heart is good medicine. I mean, the people that I know that have inspired me and helped me have a great sense of4:05 humor and they laugh and they have fun. And I just wanna encourage you to a lot of the anger, a lot of the stress will leave when you just lighten up a little bit and enjoy yourself.4:17 Number 6 is take care of yourself. I mean, this is 1 that, you know, you almost don't wanna say because it's gonna go over the top. But I'll just say it just so it can have good stewardship, is you need enough rest, you4:27 need to eat good food, and you need to work out enough to keep your body in shape. And when you don't do those things, when you don't have very much rest, when you eat stuff that's no good for you, and you don't do any4:38 kind of exercising, you're gonna be angry more often. It's just the way it is. Less sleep, less energy. And you know, I don't think everyone has to be quote a health nut, but I think you ought to ask4:50 yourself, if this really is the temple of God, first Corinthians 6 19 20, if this really is the temple of God, am I treating it like God's temple? And then, you know, you just start5:02 slow with where you're at and start putting more good stuff instead of bad stuff in your body. And if you've never jogged or anything, you just start walking. And just little by little by little, But you take care of5:12 yourself, and you'll just find your anger. By the way, a lot of people that have not good eating habits and don't work out, guess who you're angry at? Yeah.5:26 My background in undergraduate and grad work, I did in undergrad, but then in just a few classes in grad work in psychology. And there's this weird thing the way our minds work, is that when people don't like themselves5:37 or they feel guilty or bad, they feel like they need to punish themselves, And we will actually create behaviors to produce outcomes, to make equalize things inside of us. And5:49 so people will will eat and do things that are bad for them that create outcomes that sort of say, wow, this is the kind of person I am. This is what I deserve. Now, as weird as that sounds, it's true.6:01 But take care of yourself. You matter. You're important. You're precious. You're loved. And then finally, know what triggers your anger. And let me give you an acronym here. H A L T.6:14 HALT. When you're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, stop. HALT. Don't make a big decision. Don't go anywhere. Don't try and take on6:25 something. And and I guess that what I got from that acronym is what I found is when I'm hungry, I'm a lot unnice to be with, right? I'm angry.6:37 When I'm lonely, my anger quotient goes up. When I'm tired, you don't even wanna go there. Right? And so, I just wanna encourage you some real practical learnings6:50 about your AQ, your anger quotient's gonna be your environment, that's what we talked about here, plus your perspective, we'll look at that in just a second. That's7:02 times obedience to 4 26, is in real life, these are things that will minimize the stress and help you with your AQ. The E is you minimize stress. To get the right7:14 perspective, you want to maximize God. You wanna get a high, clear view of God. Let me give you 6 things here to maximize or enlarge your perspective. This is7:26 what I call spiritual wisdom. Number 1, get right with God. Believe in him, confess your sins and forgive others. If, by whatever chance, you're here and you don't7:38 know Christ personally, don't leave this campus until you put your faith in Christ, allow him to forgive your sins, and give you a peace that's indescribable, and a power that's within you.7:50 If you are a believer here, then take to heart, submit therefore to God, resist the devil, he'll flee from you. Submission. Anything you know that God wants you to do,8:03 or to act on that you're not, is called lack of submission. You want to say to God, all that I am, all that I have is yours. And if he's been speaking to you about dealing with anger, dealing with your8:15 marriage, dealing with an alcohol issue, dealing with prescription drugs, dealing with forgiving someone in the past, just do it. You'll be amazed. Things will Submit therefore to God.8:27 Resist the devil. He'll flee from you. Then notice, draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. And then he talks about, well, what's it mean to draw near to God? Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,8:37 you double minded. And then he's gonna go on in the passage, in this passage later on, and talk about this is the picture of humbling yourself before God so that he can come and lift you up and help you.8:49 God is not an angry, mean God whose arms are crossed with a bony finger and a tapping toe that thinks you have messed up and you're messing up again, and he wants to whack you on sort of your9:01 spiritual knuckles and saying get with the program. He is not down on you. He loves you. He's for you. He died for you. Now, certain behaviors and certain stiff arming of9:12 God will bring about what I call Hebrews 12, the velvet vice of consequences. He loves you so much that when you are living in a way that's contrary to your best and His word, He will9:24 begin to bring consequences into your life. And it can come in finances, in relationships. It can come in your kids. It can come in your health. He just wants to say, hello.9:36 I love you. And some of us, we keep thinking, why are all these things happening to me? Just stop and say, is there anything in my life that needs to be realigned with what I9:48 know is true? And the perspective that you'll get, and the peace that you'll receive. Some people have someone that's wounded you. You just need the last line. You need to forgive them. Release them. God's a fair10:00 judge. He knows all things. The reason we don't wanna release people is, well, I'm taking them off the hook. You're not taking them off the hook. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Tell you what, if God's absolutely fair10:10 and He's all wise and He knows all things actual and possible, He knows why the person did it, what the circumstances were, you just say, God, I'll tell you what. Either I'm gonna be the referee, or you're gonna be the10:21 referee. I don't know the whole story. I'm gonna give this person to you, and then here's what's helped me. Now God, when I really have been really10:32 honest about stuff in me, I do not want to get what I deserve. I mean, not at all. And we're going to talk about this later, but it is: If10:44 I'm going to receive your mercy, Ephesians 4 32, Be kind to 1 another, tenderhearted, forgiving 1 another, just as God also has forgiven you. But get10:56 right with God. Your perspective, your life. A half hearted, partially in, partially out relationship with Jesus Christ is the most miserable people on the face11:08 of the Earth. Just come clean. Number 2. Experience God's unconditional love and acceptance. When you wake up in the morning, I have this picture and I try and remember in a lot of mornings when as11:20 soon as my eyes open, I have this picture of God looking down upon me and and with Him saying to this, the Lord personal God, Elohim, is in your midst. The mighty 1 will save. And that11:32 word save means He'll deliver. It's not just save you from your sin. It means He's a deliverer. He'll help you. He'll take care of whatever you're facing. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet11:44 you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Is that your view of God? Is that how he feels about you? Well, that doesn't come naturally to me. And so 1 of the things that I do, and I don't11:56 know how it works, but, some of us believe that God loves us, but emotionally, we don't even feel like he likes us.12:10 That's why it's hard to pray. A lot a lot of Christians are like, dudey. I know it's right. You know, like walking with God is like, you know, it's like castor oil. I know it's really good for you. This tastes terrible.12:22 You know? I know you're supposed to pray. I'm gonna pray down. Here's the list, man. Here's the list. Read the Bible. This is really fun. You know? You get a little get a little spiritual liver quiver just now and then.12:31 That was that's pretty good. You know? God wants you to experience his love. A lot of that goes back to how you were raised, and some teaching you God, and family background. Now this is loaded with12:43 music that causes my heart to remember how much God loves me. And almost every morning, part of my prayer time, there's 2 or 3 or 4 songs, and sometimes12:55 I just tell God, I just wanna hang out. I don't wanna get anything done. If you want me to read something, let me know. I've got a program I usually follow. I just wanna hang. And I put this on, and I sing along with the13:06 songs, and I just worship God. And all I can tell you is, I get up, I feel loved. You know, when Teresa and I go out for coffee, it's not like, okay, what do you wanna get accomplished here?13:18 Okay, you wanna get intimate? Okay. I love you. Let me hear you say, you love me too. Good. Okay, we got that off. Okay. Plan for the day. Let's hold hands at 1 0 1. Great. Let's walk the13:30 dog and look up and say, isn't it beautiful? Okay. We'll get that 1 down. Okay. You think we can squeeze sex in here and make it real meaningful a little bit later? You know, that's that that should be important. You13:41 know? No. Well, I I mean, some of us approach her relationship. When I am with Teresa, I just want to hang. I just like being with her. I just like looking in her13:52 eyes. I like just walking in the park. I like getting up at 5 in the morning when the moon's out and the stars are just coming out when it's cool, and sitting out on the porch and hearing all the birds,14:05 and sipping on a cup of coffee, and just sometimes we'll sit quietly for 15 minutes, and sometimes we'll talk. I I just I I like her. I love her. I wanna be in her presence. God wants you to14:16 experience that. There's multiple ways you can do that. You can take walks in nature. But see, you gotta slow down. So this is helpful for me. So that's a little tool that I use. The second tool14:28 for me is my view of God was so warped that I have, read portions of this book for about the last 32 years. It's called The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer. And I will never forget hitting14:40 the chapter on the goodness of God and reading, The goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of goodwill toward men. He is tenderhearted and quick of sympathy. And his14:52 unfailing attitude toward all moral beings is open, frank, and friendly. By his nature, He is inclined to bestow blessedness. And I love this. He takes holy15:04 pleasure in the happiness of His people. Do you believe that? Or you're always trying to measure up to something He takes holy when you're happy, God gets happy.15:18 And then I love the line, he says, if the whole the whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe we dwell under a friendly sky, and the God in heaven, though exalted in power and majesty,15:30 is eager to be friends with us. I will tell you, this is the p of perspective. When you have a big God and you have a big perspective, your problems get real small. And when your problems are15:42 small, you don't get so angry. It's not such a big deal. God is good. God is powerful. I'm the object of his love. You know, he's got the whole universe under control, and I bet he can handle that business15:54 deal. He's got the whole universe under control, and you know, I bet he can handle what's happening with the economy. He's got the whole universe under control, and you are the object of his affection. So experience God.16:07 You're listening to Living on the Edge, and Chip will be back to continue our series overcoming emotions that destroy in just a minute. But let me quickly tell you, we are more than a broadcast16:18 ministry. We're passionate about supporting pastors globally, developing helpful resources, and sharing the gospel with this next generation. So if you'd like to partner with us in these areas, go to living16:30 on the edge dot o r g. Well, here again is Chip.16:35 3. Accept who God made you to be. Psalm 1 39. Classic passage. He formed your inward parts. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. His eyes saw your unformed substance. How do you learn to accept who you16:47 are? There's lots of tools. This is the 1 I'm using right now. I probably have about 30 of these, maybe 40. I started in my last couple years of college. I don't think it's for everyone.16:59 If you don't do this, don't feel guilty. In fact, anything that I share that happens to help me, that you think, that doesn't work for me, then I would not do it. I have a sneaking suspicion, you're not me17:11 and I'm not you. I've heard lots of wonderful things other people do and I think, that sounds idiotic, that doesn't work for me. But I used to try it. I'm learning to accept me because I'm tracking the journey17:23 that I have with God. And it's not formal. And sometimes I make a list, sometimes I write out my prayers, some of them start out, God, I'm really tired, I'm really bummed out, and I don't feel like praying at all. But I17:34 thought I would check-in. And here's what's going on in my heart. And what I what I realize is the more I process life with him, and then I realize, you know something? I was struggling with this17:47 2 years ago, and wow. You know something? I really am changing. The grace of God is willing and working in and through me for his good pleasure. And and, you know,17:59 when you can't see it and you can't track it, I mean, you know, S and P 500, don't they track stuff? Dow, don't they track stuff? Nasdaq, don't they track stuff? Businesses, don't they have quarterly report?18:11 Most of us have no idea. Where am I spiritually? Where have I been? Where am I going? And I wonder where I'm at right now. And sometimes, like, this is hard, believe I know, I get really tired and really discouraged, and18:22 I just think, you know what? I don't think my life's going anywhere. I don't think God's using me at all. I don't think, you know you know, the sort of condemnation journey. And I'll go pull out 1 of these from, like, 518:32 or 10 years ago. I think, man, this is a sorry dude that wrote this. You know? And that's as sincere as he could be, and I think,18:44 wow. And then I'll read, I was praying this outlandish prayer. God did that. Wow. If He did that for me, He sure must love me, because I know who I am. And you know, it's18:56 just a journey. And by the way, most of these passages, I told you before, it's been hell you can write them on a card. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Read them over. Read them over. Pray19:07 them out loud to God. Your mind gets renewed. You wanna maximize God. Trust God in His sovereignty. Let Him be in control. I mean, this Isaiah passage. To whom then will you liken me? Or who's19:19 my equal? Lift up your eyes. See who's created these things. He brings out their host, the stars, by number. He calls all these 200000000000 stars and behind it, 200000000000 galaxies19:32 all by name. Who can know the strength of His power? Not 1 of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord. Have you not known? Have you19:43 not heard that everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth neither faints nor is weary? His understanding is unsearchable. I don't mean I will never throw my brains in the19:55 trash and just say, oh, whatever. But I will do the most rigorous research I can, and I will study the scriptures, and I will review everything I can get my hands on to understand all20:07 the whats and the whys of this life. And then when I get done, I just realize I don't know anything. And I have to entrust the mystery of this life and what God's doing in the world, in people I love,20:19 in me. And at the end of the day, I have to back it all the way up to this big, big P for perspective and say, He's good, He's holy, He's loving, He's wise.20:31 He knows all things. I'm the object of his affection. He has a good plan. I won't always understand it. And he is in absolute control, and he's trustworthy.20:43 That will give you a different lens to look through. You either tend to look at life through the problem, the 5 percent of your marriage, your 10 percent you don't like, the part of work, the 3 or 4 things that are20:54 bugging you, and you tend not to look at the 97 of all the grace of God and all the things that He's done. And when you look at the problem pretty soon, you look at people and everything through the problem, and you21:05 become an angry, resentful, not very fun, sort of, drinking the lemon juice type Christian. Or you take that and you pull it back, and you21:17 get a high awesome view of God. And you don't say there's not a problem, but you see the problem in view of who God is. You maximize him. You minimize stress.21:29 We covered this 1. Be merciful. Just all I can tell you is as you read Luke 6, love your enemies. Do good to them. God's that way. Just let people off the hook.21:42 Just give them an ollie ollie in free. Remember when you played hide and seek? You just need to do a spiritual ollie in free. I've hated your guts for 11 years.21:54 I've been envious you for 10. You've been talking about me bad. Everyone knows you have. Olly olly ing freak. Just taking you off the hook, wrote your name on a piece of paper, offered you to God, burned a piece22:06 of paper. I'm just done with that. Just let some people off the hook. And the person that will get free is you. Finally, number 6: pray about everything. And,22:18 we all know this very familiar passage about not being anxious, but in everything, by prayer and of making a request known to God and that great promise of his peace.22:30 And, prayer is hard for me. I think it is for most Christians. This little tool, it's called the Handbook of Prayer by Ken Boa. And what it does is it takes just scripture and it personalizes it,22:42 and it'll start with praise, renewal, petition, intercession, affirmation, thanksgiving, and just I mean, you can you can just see there. It's short. But you can read out loud a little portion of God's word22:54 that's personalized, and it leads you, and then you can pray some thanksgiving. And there's some time of confession and some renewal. And, I don't do anything every day. I mean, I read my Bible and I pray, but23:06 sometimes I read a lot, and sometimes I pray a lot. Sometimes you know, but you know, like, I don't get up with Teresa every day and go, okay. Now, let's we need to talk for 37 minutes. We need to walk for 14.4 minutes.23:18 We need to have 2 and a half meals together. And then we need to. To in other words, what's the relationship need? Let's get out of the 3 chapters keeps the devil away. Let's talk23:30 about a heart that hungers and thirsts for the living God, that pants to be in His presence, that longs to enjoy Him, and discipline ourselves and blocks23:41 off time not to fulfill a duty to check off a list, but to meet a God who is eager to be our friend. You get a23:53 high view of God, you will get small problems, or you'll get a different perspective on him. And now we go back to where we are. Your anger quotient equals environment,24:06 minimizing the stress, e, plus p, perspective, maximizing God, times o, obey, Ephesians 4 26. Be24:17 angry, but don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger.24:26 You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and the message you just heard, learning how to stop stress before it starts, is from our series overcoming emotions that destroy. Chip will join24:38 us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. Anger has always been seen as a wrong, unhealthy feeling. But what if I told you that this emotion is a signal of24:50 a deeper problem we need to be aware of? And if channeled correctly, anger could actually be used for good. Well, in this 10 part series, Chip uncovers the root of anger in our lives and explains how we25:02 can turn our most intense frustrations into a valuable asset. So if you're desperate to better understand this emotion and have control over it, you're not gonna wanna miss a single program.25:14 Well, Chip's here in studio with me now. And, Chip, before we go on, you wanted to share something with our listeners?25:19 Thanks so much, Dave. I know a lot of people pray and support the ministry because you hear of exciting new things that we're doing, whether it's in China or the Middle East or working with pastors. But I like you to25:30 consider something else. The bible is very clear that where you are spiritually ministered to, there's a moral responsibility to financially support. That's not me. That's the apostle25:42 Paul. And you know, there's about a million people every week that are hearing God's word and God is using the teaching ministry of Living on the Edge to help Christians grow in Christ likeness and that25:54 changes families and communities. If you're 1 of those people, would you pray about giving back if indeed Living on the Edge is ministering to you and helping you grow spiritually? It's just a principle that26:06 I think is very important. Would you pray about it and do whatever God chose you to do?26:10 Thanks, Chip. As you prayerfully consider your role in this ministry, I wanna remind you that every dollar is significant. When you partner with Living on the Edge, you multiply our efforts and resources in26:22 remarkable ways. To give a gift, go to living on the edge dot org or call us at triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3. Again, that's triple 8 3 3 326:34 6 0 0 3, or go to living on the edge dot o r g. App listeners tap donate. Well, with that, here again is Chip.26:44 As we close today's program, maximizing God will greatly reduce stress in your life. I went through a number of very specific things very quickly. If you need to see those and get some26:56 help, go to the website, livingontheedge dot org, and you can download the notes for free. Now, under each 1 of those things in the book, we actually develop very specific ways and and tell stories27:08 and show you how to do it. So if this is helpful, that might be a tool. But just for our purposes today, let me just remind you of the halt, h a l t. When you are27:20 feeling hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, know that you just gotta stop. Don't make a big decision. If you even feel mildly tempted, just realize, halt,27:32 stop. That's when really good, really godly people do very stupid, sinful things. That one's worth the whole day today. I remember when someone shared that with me, it was like, wow. I've been27:44 in airports hungry, tired, someone jumps in line, I feel the anger, and I just realize, woah, woah, wait a minute, Ingram, halt. Just halt. Father, I pray for those under overwhelming27:56 stress that you'll help them today to halt, to stop, to pray, to take 5 minutes they don't think they have, and to open the Psalms and read them out loud and tell28:07 you how they honestly feel. And I pray that you would calm their heart and give them perspective in Jesus' name. Amen.28:15 Amen. Thanks, Chip. Hey. Before we go, if you'd like to get plugged in with any of the resources for this series, visit living on the edge dot org. There, you can download Chip's message notes,28:27 check out our small group study, or listen to any part of this series. We wanna help you grow in your walk with Jesus, so visit living on the edge dot o r g today. Well, from all of us here,28:39 I'm Dave Drewey thanking you for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next time.In this video 0:00 Practical Steps to Reduce Stress and AngerComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Up next Autoplay More from Chip Ingram Prayer That Brings Revival, Part 2 Chip Ingram
Prayer That Brings Revival, Part 1 Chip Ingram
No Revival Without Repentance, Part 2 Chip Ingram
No Revival Without Repentance, Part 1 Chip Ingram
Urgent and Dependent, Part 2 Chip Ingram
Urgent and Dependent, Part 1 Chip Ingram
How Our Jobs Can Destroy Our Relationships, Part 2 Chip Ingram
Why Better Things Don't Always Make Things Better, Part 1 Chip Ingram
Why Better Things Don't Always Make Things Better, Part 2 Chip Ingram
Why a Change in Scenery Rarely Improves the View, Part 1 Chip Ingram
Why a Change in Scenery Rarely Improves the View, Part 2 Chip Ingram
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.