Anger

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." James 1:19-20

Anger is easily recognized. There is yelling, cursing and screaming. There might be fighting. Sometimes anger is silent. It sits in a dark place where it festers, bubbles and spews until it begins to grow . That may be the worst kind of anger because at some point that time-bomb that has been ticking for maybe weeks violently explodes. Anger shows itself in many ways. The worst cases of anger are those that are very destructive. 

Our nation is full of anger. It has caused much division. Politics has become one of the major causes of anger. The pandemic has been a dangerous fire keg that has set people ablaze with anger. The media, I’m sure, prides itself for causing thousands to be filled with hate and anger. The more angry their viewers and readers are, the greater their audience, and the more money they make. There is so much anger these days that people who are not angry think that there is something wrong with them. Not really! 

The bottom line is that God is not pleased when you and I become angry, especially if we are his. James wrote that we are to be slow to get angry. Yes, there are times that anger is appropriate, but we must never go ballistic. There is never a time when we allow ourselves to lash out at another person, or do horrible things to someone even if they have been hateful and cruel to us . The best thing we can do is turn and walk away. I guarantee that most likely the person who attacked you verbally will feel foolish, childish and possibly regretful about their actions . The most important thing about keeping our cool when we are in a situation when we  are about to lose it  is to calm down and allow God to produce his righteousness in us.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.” The Bible says that anger does not show that we have the righteousness of God within our hearts. In these days when the world is full of anger we who are Christians must be careful to not be like the world. If we do not exhibit the righteousness of Jesus, who will?