THE DETRIMENT OF ANGER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.

Proverbs 29:22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If I were to take a poll and ask people for the characteristics they look for in the people they like to hang around with, I think I would be safe in saying that anger wouldn’t be in the top 5 or even the top 10. I mean, who likes to be in the company of someone who is always angry or hot tempered? I know I don’t.

Nothing usually good comes out of anger when it makes an appearance. Arguments typically begin and the more heated the words become, the more anger escalates. And if it goes unchecked and undiffused, anger can go beyond words and result in physical altercation where people can get hurt or in extreme cases, even killed.

Yes, little good comes from anger as our proverb for today highlights:

An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins. Proverbs 29:22

Given that the word of God fails to advocate for anger, we need to see it is of no value in our lives, that it is nothing but a detriment to us. The Lord calls us to love and care for one another, not hate and seek conflict. He calls for us to stay calm and level-headed, seeking and applying His righteousness in all we do, not reject it and choose sin instead. He desires us to forgive and reconcile our differences, not allow resentment and irritation to fester and poison us from the inside out.

Consider these additional verses of direction on this matter:

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. Psalm 37:8

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Ecclesiates 7:9

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20

Look back at the scriptures and you’ll find a hateful Cain murder his brother Abel out of anger and jealousy. You’ll find Saul, the king of Israel, seeking to murder his God-anointed successor David to keep him from getting the throne. You’ll find another man named Saul overseeing the murder of a selected Christian servant named Stephen, one of many Christians he would see executed. And you’ll find a brother whose anger would not allow him to rejoice when his brother, who had been lost, returned home and received forgiveness from their father.

There’s little wonder why Jesus addressed the matter of anger in His first teachings. Look at His words from what has been called the Sermon on the Mount:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” Matthew 5:21-22

God. Jesus’ Father (and ours) had commanded all His people to not murder and Jesus was in no way superseding the commandments of His Father. Rather, he was adding value to what His Father had already said. For Jesus saw that the root causes of murder were often laden in anger and so if anger could be addresses, then matters might not escalate to the point where people became murderous. It makes perfect sense, right?

And so Jesus said we’re not to be angry and if we’re truly to be Christian (that is, of Christ) then we need to rid our lives of anger all together. If we don’t, then we will discover one other detriment that comes with opting for sin and choosing anger as an emotion.

We will experience the anger of God.

Indeed, disobeying the Lord and continuing to be a person of anger will only bring anger on yourself and you do not want to experience the wrath of God. Just go back and see what happened in the Bible when people’s actions resulted in God being angry with them. It wasn’t pretty and led to the prophet Nahum writing the following:

Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? Nahum 1:6

Indeed, who can withstand God’s onslaught when it comes? We would be well served to not find out.

Friends, today and every day, we need to listen and heed the guidance that God and Jesus has given regarding anger. Avoid it and we will live in His favor and blessing. Ignore it and we will see this scripture from Paul’s letter to the Romans come to life:

For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. Romans 2:8

I don’t know about you but I would rather remain on God’s good side.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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