Anger!
James 1:19 and 20 (NLT), "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires." The word translated anger in this translation is "wrath" in the King James. Wrath, which is orge in the Greek means: temper, agitation of soul, impulse, desire, and violent emotion, especially anger, wrath, and indignation.
My wife and I have been noticing there are a lot of very angry people these days. Innumerable situations have and are arising in our world today that are contributing to the opportunity for angry responses. Many in our society are divided and in opposition to one another.
When people feel they are being wronged in some way, the most typical human (fleshly) response is an expression or releasing of the emotion of anger. In their mind, people's feelings of being wronged have many causes, such as; feelings of oppression, being mistreated, or persecuted, being taken advantage of, or misrepresented, dishonored, maligned, defamed, abused, or being offended. When people believe their rights are being disregarded or trampled upon, the natural result is an inclination to anger.
We have seen a huge escalation in anger developing and manifesting itself in incidents of road rage, confrontations between employers and employees, parents and school administrators or school boards, governmental leadership and the general populous, caused by governmental control and overreach issues, such as, gun ownership and control, mandatory vaccines, mandatory mask regulations, forced funding for abortions, public services, transportation difficulties and so on - all leading to mounting displays of anger. Many people today, basically, because of prolonged anxiety, fear and stress have short fuses!
I recently read a story describing an event which took place on a major airline carrier. As the plane was making an approach for a landing, the airline stewardess asked a passenger to follow standard protocol of fastening her seat belt and returning the tray to an up position. Upon discovering that the passenger failed to follow the instructions, the stewardess asked her a second time to comply. At this point, the passenger stood up, grabbed the stewardess' hair and began to pummel her with her fists. Another example, just this past week, my son witnessed a violent fight between two workers at his job. Then, when our daughter-in-law passed another vehicle on the interstate this weekend (even though she did not pull back into the right lane until she saw the headlights in the rear view mirror), the driver of the passed car, flashed their headlights at her, then pulled up in the passing lane and stayed directly beside her for some time, before eventually dropping back. It was definitely a maneuver meant to cause intimidation. We see and hear of these types of things happening more and more.
Webster defines anger as a feeling of displeasure resulting from injury, mistreatment, opposition, etcetera, and usually showing itself in a desire to fight back at the supposed cause of this feeling.
Anger is a powerful emotion which can be very difficult to control. Yet, control it, we must. Anger springs from self-centeredness and is conducive only to malice and destruction.
Just as with fear (see my September 1, 2021 blog) anger is one of satan's greatest weapons used against mankind. When anger is in control - we are not! 1 Peter 5:8 and 9 reads, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist (set one's self against, oppose, to withstand) him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." The devil walks about looking for ways to hinder our faith walk. The devil's ultimate agenda is to destroy us. He tries to get us to bow to circumstances, pressures, or forces of his evil design. Note that, we are instructed in verse 9 to resist him , being steadfast (strong, firm, and immovable) in the faith.
Look at James 4:7 and 8a, "Therefore submit (obey, be subject to) to God. Resist (to set oneself against, to withstand, oppose) the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near (come near, approach) to God and He will draw near to you". So, we see in these verses, that we are instructed to submit, to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God. It is essential that we realize that we submit, resist and draw near by the choices we make.
In my blog on 8/10/21, we talked about "Choices". Deuteronomy 30:19 and 20 (NLT), "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." These verses reveal that we choose between life and death, between blessings and curses. Then, we read in James 1:14 and 15, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." We are drawn away by our own desires. It is when we act upon those desires, by the choices we make that sin is conceived. You see, we can never, honestly, say that something or someone "made" us mad. Every time we have opportunity, we choose whether or not we will stay in control or allow our emotions and anger to win.
At this time, I would like to look at what the scripture tells us about anger.
Proverbs 16:32, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." and in Proverbs 14:17 we read, "A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of wicked intentions is hated."
How many times have we done or said something, when we were angry, that we wish we could take back? Even harder, is the apology that has to come later. Proverbs 19:11 (NASB20), "The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression." Discretion is the ability to make wise choices or decisions.
Ephesians 4:26 and 27 (NLT), "And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil." Do you see what this verse says? If you let anger control you, you will sin and anger gives a foothold (opportunity, power or occasion for acting) to the enemy to control your life! The Greek word used in this verse for "anger" is orgize which describes a passion that is furious and raging with a desire for revenge. It is the kind of anger that causes people to kill. I can not tell you how many times I have heard people who lose control of their emotions frequently say, "That is just the way I am!" That statement is not true and to accept it, allows the devil to run roughshod over you.
What are we, as Christians, supposed to do with that kind of strong emotion of anger, hatred or rage? If we read on, in Chapter 4 of Ephesians to verses 31 and 32 (NASB20) the scripture says, "All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice." The NKJV says to "put away from you" which also means to remove. This indicates an action or a choice that you must make. You have to intentionally decide to remove anger from you!
Colossians 3 verse 8 very plainly reveals that "you yourselves are to put off all these things."
Is it easy for us to rise above the strong emotions that affect us? No, it is not always easy. How do we deal with loving our enemies? How were the parents of the five young Amish school girls, who had a shooter enter their school and take their lives, able to forgive and love the perpetrator? The good news is that we do not have to subdue our anger in our own power or strength. I am sure the Holy Spirit worked in a marvelous way in the hearts and minds of those Amish families. Understand though, that they had to partner with the Holy Spirit in order to be able to live above the strong and desperate emotions that would come in that situation. They chose to forgive and with the help of the Holy Spirit, they were successful in accomplishing what, in the natural, would be impossible.
Philippians 4:13 (NLT) states, "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, we will not fulfill it's lusts. (Romans 13:14)
Will we fail sometimes? Yes, we will. When that happens, we choose to repent, ask the Lord's forgiveness and strive to make a better choice the next time. However, our goal is to keep improving and to keep growing. How do we accomplish that? We continue to fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God and continue to walk in the Spirit daily.
2 Corinthians 3:18, "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image"
Remember, God's grace is always sufficient.
If you have questions or comments, I would be happy to hear from you.
In His service, Eric