Slow to become Angry

Matthew 5:21-26

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” V. 22

Have you noticed that our society has an anger problem and is like a volcano spewing out steam and gases, but it has not exploded as of yet.  If I began to list all the evidence to support this, it would require many pages and it’s not only America, almost every country on the globe.  This is my first thought, if you’re going to fix a problem you must first address the root cause of the problem.  And my next thought is, has it been a problem in time past?  And is it a problem I have, and am I the only follower of Christ dealing with such a problem?

The world system is doing a poor job with its diversity programs, it’s not the world, but the Christian this paper is addressing.  Has God spoken to Christians in His handbook on living life on planet earth, and if He has, what are you doing with those instructions?  In the Psalm 37:8, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it only leads to evil.”  Could it be Christians do not grasp or understand words like “fret”?  This writer is a fretter and if I believe God has spoken, and fretting only leads to evil, then what must I do?  It is very simple, confess, both to God and to your brothers and sisters in the faith, so they can pray for you.  As a fretter, I need to have a funeral for this enemy of my soul, and so do you, and by agreement with the authority of Scripture, ask God to forgive you and when it comes to the door of your mind, remind yourself it is not a friend but an enemy, it is being sent by the one who is called a thief in John 10:10. 

King Solomon had this to say on the subject of anger; “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”  (Proverbs 19:11)  I’ve come to this understanding, to overlook an offense I must forgive the offender, and by doing so I’ve allowed Jesus to show Himself strong in my life, and I do not allow the enemy an opening in my mind, nor do I cause division in the family of God.  King Solomon had this to say in Ecclesiastes 7:9, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lab of fools.”  Many a self-help book will deal with how you see yourself, and it is not all bad, and as a Christian the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul’s lips had this to say: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 

James 1:9 also gives some very wise council: “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 is talking to followers of Christ, if you are of them, then this is addressed to you.  “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice