DAILY INSPIRATION 10/14/09: SLOW TO ANGER...

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, he who rules his own spirit than he who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32).


This is another on of those verses that I turn to over and over again, but even if I wasn't necessarily looking for verses about anger, I'd likely come across one or two anyway during a typical day of Bible study. Why?

Anger is mentioned over 500 times in the Scripture. The only emotion in the Bible more common than anger is love. Anger appears first in Genesis 4:5, and last in Revelation 19:15. So, whether you read front to back or vice-versa, you can't escape what God has to say about anger!

I don't think of myself as an "angry" person at all, and I really don't carry around a lot of anger. But there are many different levels of what we call anger, from irritation or indignation to FURY! And I believe that some anger about certain things is OK. For example, healthy expression in a non-aggressive way wont hurt anyone, as long as you express it and then are DONE. But unhealthy anger, which I'll call sinful anger involves acting in an way that so violates what God wants us to be: loving, that it cannot be ignored. This includes yelling, violence, and even withdrawing from others due to your anger. How about these in your life: depression, sarcasm, gossip, meanness, impatience, or, a biggie: refusing to forgive? Do any of those things show up for you? Please take a few moments of silence right now, if you can, and think about the many attributes mentioned in the previous sentence. Do you need to work on cleansing yourself of any of them?

If you are hanging on to anger, there are a few things you can do, i.e. "Action Steps:"

SURRENDER-- to the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16)
PRAY-- admit your feelings to God, and ask him for forgiveness for your sinful anger (Matthew 5:43-45)
AVOID--ruminating over the situation, and revenge! (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 1:13)
FORGIVE--choose (repeat: choose) to let go of resentment and bitterness (Ephesians 4:31-32)
LOVE--even those who anger you (1 Corinthians 13)

We all get angry. Anger is a powerful emotion that God has given us, and His Word teaches us clearly about both the constructive and destructive force that anger is. Let's pray that He will help us to follow His Word, by teaching us how to control our anger when we've been threatened and wronged. He will tell us, that we may see clearly, and not hurt others in anger.

C. Buchanan