The anger

Saturday January 15, 2022

The anger

Leave the anger, leave the fury, do not get angry ; that would be wrong. Psalm 37:8

Renounce all that, the anger, the fury, the malice, the slander, the vulgarities that might come out of your mouth. Colossians 3:8

The anger has a bad reputation. We can be anger with ourselves, sometimes with God, and most often with others. The others are our loved ones, our spouse, our brothers, our neighbors, our co-workers...

The anger is born from an annoyance, a hurtful word, a real or supposed injustice, an accusation. Contained for a moment, it suddenly explodes, ignites and, like a brush fire, quickly becomes uncontrollable. Human anger solves no problem and does not accomplish God's justice (James 1:20). Moreover, it can cause serious damage and deep wounds that are difficult to heal.

We are strongly warned against this tendency of our natural hearts, for evil impulses of anger are part, with strife, jealousies, intrigues and the like, of what the Word calls the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19).

However, some anger is justified, like that of Moses descending from Sinai : he sees that the people have fallen into idolatry and he breaks the tablets of the Law. If he had not done so, the people would have been consumed by the wrath of God (Exodus 32:19). But most anger is sinful, like that of Cain, angry that his offering was not accepted by God (Genesis 4:5,6). So let us remember the teaching of Proverbs : A man quick to anger acts madly and stirs up strife (Proverbs 14:17 ; 29:22). By contrast, slowness to anger is great intelligence, and one who is slow to anger calms contention (Proverbs 14:29 ; 15:18).

One who is slow to anger exhibits self-control consistent with the meekness which the believer should exhibit on all occasions (Philippians 4:5). And if we feel anger invading us, let us have the reflex to step back, to examine the situation with calm and lucidity, seeking the thought of God in prayer. Above all, let us not allow a permanent state of anger, which is called bitterness or irritation, to settle in our hearts, from which it would then be difficult to get rid of. This is why it is said : Be angry, but do not sin : let not the sun set on your irritation (Ephesians 4:26).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)