Hold Your Horses
Anger is a sin when it is directed at people. Paul says that “we should not let the sun go down on our anger (Eph 4:26), but it doesn’t mean you can be angry and mean all day, for as long as you repent before you go to bed. Rather it refers to our anger against the devil and the works of the devil. We should not let the sun go down on our wrath against the enemy. We should stay stirred up against the works of the devil as Jesus did. But being angry against people is a sign of self-righteousness and pride, and therefore not of the Lord. There’s a big cost to anger. When you let anger take control, you’re going to cause irreparable damage. When you lose your temper, you always lose. You may lose someone’s respect, the love of your family, your health, or even your job.
We think we get the short-term payoff, but in the long run, anger always produces more anger, more apathy, and more alienation. How many kids have become alienated from a parent because of out-of-control anger? Anger destroys relationships faster than anything else. How many folks have been torn apart from a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband, a wife, or a friend because somebody lost their cool? Anger against people is never the right kind of anger.
Hurt people hurt people. You can’t think that if you pour out your anger on people, it’ll be done and over with. No, you’re only rehearsing for the next time. It is rooted deep in pride the same as bitterness and has to be uprooted.
Let’s COMMIT to make the following verses OURS.
Jam 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
Phil 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Jam 1:26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
Pr 14:29 He who is slow to wrath has great understanding. But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
Pr 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.
Pr 26:21 As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
Pr 28:25a He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife.
Pr 29:20 Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Pr 29:22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.
Ecc 4:6 Better a handful with quietness than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
Ecc 7:8-9 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Pr 17:14 The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.
Pr 18:13 He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.
Pr 20:3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel.
Pr 25:8 Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end when your neighbor has put you to shame?
Pr 15:18 A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention.
Pr 15:1b Harsh word stirs up anger.
Pr 10:19b He who restrains his lips is wise.
Pr 11:12b A man of understanding holds his peace.
1Pt 3:9a Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing.
Pr 17:27-28 He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
Pr 21:23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.
Jam 1:19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.