Foundations of Faith
ANGER (IV)
It is easy to say, “Stop your sinful anger,” but many people, including Christians, really struggle with the problem of uncontrolled anger. It may seem like the anger just flashes out before the person knows it is happening. What advice can we give to such people?
1. First of all, take an inventory of all the excuses you have made for your anger problem. Do you say, “That’s just the way I am,” or “That’s the way God made me,” or “I’m only human,” or “I’m just a sinner like everyone else,” or “All the males in my family get angry,” or “I have a short fuse but I get over it quickly,” or “I often wake up on the wrong side of the bed”? Not a single one of these excuses is valid, because as a Christian you are a new creation in Christ:“Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Confess your excuse-making to the Lord, and don’t make excuses any more. (See Assignment 6)
2. Do not justify your anger as being righteous unless you can properly, scripturally distinguish between righteous anger and sinful anger (see Jan01 and Feb01).
3. Check your thought life. Do you often have angry thoughts toward certain people? Does your mind go through scenarios in which you are engaged in an angry argument with someone? When this happens, do you catch yourself, confess your sin to God, and ask Him to help you to deal with that person in a loving, Christ-like way? “Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry” (Eccl. 7:9).
4. Memorize Phil. 4:8 and meditate upon it often. When you find yourself having angry, vengeful thoughts about a person, replace them with thoughts of that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy about the person. For example, instead of thinking about spreading falsehoods or evil reports in vengeance against that person, think rather about that person’s character traits that are virtuous or worthy of praise. “Whatsoever things are lovely” means those things that tend toward making friends. So replace your thoughts of anger with thoughts about how you and the other person can become better friends.
5. Memorize Matt. 5:44:“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, etc.” We may not think of applying this verse to a family member who has irritating habits and behaviors. But if we are to love and bless and do good to those who are our sworn enemies, how much more ought we to do these things to those who are our close friends and loved ones!
6. If you have a problem with angry words “popping out” before you know it, pay attention to whether this ever happens when you have company over, or are in the presence of other Christians in the assembly or your next door neighbor or your boss at work, or while you are talking on the telephone with the director of the local gossip society. If you can control yourself under certain circumstances, then you can control yourself in all circumstances by keeping in mind that if you are God’s child the entire Trinity dwells in you (Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 3:17; 2 Tim. 1:4; 1 John 4:12,15,16). Surely we want to have self-control in the presence of our blessed Saviour. The “fruit of the Spirit is … temperance [or self-control]” (Gal. 5:22, 23); we are not slaves to the lack of self-control that is part of our old, sinful nature.
7. Just keeping the anger bottled up inside us is not the solution to our problem. This will tend to create other problems such as stress, depression, and physical illness. You need either to turn the whole thing over to the Lord and let Him deal with it, or else in a prayerful, loving, Christ-like manner go to the person with whom you are angry and seek to resolve the problem. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). J.N. Darby wrote, in connection with this verse, “Let not my bad temper put you in a bad temper.” And George Washington Carver said once, “I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him.”
8. In Psa. 76:10 we read, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee:the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.” What does this mean? God turns man’s wrathful fury into ultimate blessing for man. Nowhere is this better seen than at the Cross of Calvary. Also, there is a saying that goes something like:“The persecution of the saints is the seed of the Church.” Satan and man have joined together in repeated attempts to destroy God’s people from off the face of the earth. But the Scriptures assure us that God puts great limitations upon man’s wrath. He will only permit that which will ultimately bring praise and glory to Himself; the rest He will restrain.
An implication of this verse is that God permits the anger and sinful behaviors of men and women as tests of faith for His own people, just as the unjust charges brought against Job by his so-called “comforters” turned out to be a bigger challenge to Job’s faith than the loss of all things brought about by Satan’s hand. When the Lord tests His own, it is in view of our passing the test in the strength and ability that He gives to us. So, let us consider those things or people that cause us to become angry to be tests from God. And let us remember that “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above that you are able; but will with the testing also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
Running the Race
WHAT MAKES YOU ANGRY (III)
The third most frequent response to a question posed to young people, “What makes you the angriest,” was “people who are proud, arrogant, and display a superior attitude.”
Like the other behaviors that make this group of young people angry, pride and arrogance are sinful (1 Sam. 2:3; Prov. 8:13; Isa. 13:11). It is well to analyze why these attitudes make us angry. Is it because those who profess to be Christians are dishonoring the Lord by such behavior? Then perhaps our anger will lead us prayerfully to speak a word to awaken them to their sinful behavior.
But maybe it is our own pride and high thoughts of self that cause us to be irritated at another’s display of pride and superiority. “In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. 2:3).
Assignment 6: Write out verses in Genesis 3, Exodus 32, and 1 Samuel 15 in which people make excuses for their sinful behavior.