Anger (2)

As we noticed last time, anger is neither good nor bad.  But it does have a tremendous negative potential.  What is it, anyway, that causes us to become angry?  One study suggested that we become angry when our self-expression or self-esteem are threatened.  Notice still another time how humility can help us keep anger in check.
Gary Collins, author of a book entitled "Christian Counseling," summarizes four causes of anger: injustice, frustration, threat and hurt, and learning.  As he notes, injustice may be the only valid reason for becoming angry.  This is why Jesus becomes angry in the temple when he casts out the money-changers in John 2:13-17.
How can we deal with frustration?  It certainly helps to get our priorities straight and then to realize that God can provide everything we really need. 
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to {His} purpose," Romans 8:28 affirms.  
"What then shall we say to these things?" Paul continues with verse 31.  "If God {is} for us, who {is} against us? 
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 
"Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
"Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' 
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
"I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity;" Paul notes in Philippians 4:12 "in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." 
Threat and hurt can be minimized through a humble attitude.  Jesus did not take it personally when they verbally abused Him and even when they nailed Him to a cross.
The final cause suggested by Dr. Collins, learning, is one of the reasons we are facing so many problems in our society today.  To a certain extent, we learn how to respond to outside influences.  We learn to react angrily.  Television and movie executives try to deny it, but that with which we fill our minds strongly influences us.  We must not be deceived.  What we see on the TV and movie screens is not intended to be, as they claim, a mirror of our lives.  It is intended to be a mold.
If these are some of the causes, what can we do to help us deal with anger?  The first thing we can do is avoid angry people and situations which lead to anger.
"Do not associate with a man {given} to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man," Proverbs 22:24-25 recommends, "lest you learn his ways, and find a snare for yourself." 
Another thing we can do is take steps to prevent anger from building.  We should deal with situations before they get out of hand.
"Be angry, and {yet} do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger," Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26-27, and do not give the devil an opportunity." 
If we have a problem with someone, we should do what we can to straighten it out.
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court,'" Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-24.
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty {enough to go} into the fiery hell. 
"If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."
One of the keys to working out problems and thus short-circuiting anger is to communicate.
"Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one {of you,} with his neighbor, for we are members of one another," Paul suggests in Ephesians 4:25-26. 
"Be angry, and {yet} do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger." 
"Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?" we read in Proverbs 27:4-6. 
"Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. 
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy." 
Although it may sound almost trite, one of the strongest weapons against anger is to count to ten before reacting.  The Bible frequently points out the value of being slow to anger.
"He who is slow to anger has great understanding," Proverbs 14:29 observes, "but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly. 

"A gentle answer turns away wrath," Proverbs 15:1 counsels, "but a harsh word stirs up anger." 
"A hot-tempered man stirs up strife," verse 18 adds, "but the slow to anger pacifies contention." 
Once again, notice how humility can help us here.
"Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you," James 4:10 recommends. 
Still another tool in dealing with anger is sharing our needs and frustrations with others, and especially with God.
"Bear one another's burdens," Paul invites in Galatians 6:2 "and thus fulfill the law of Christ." 
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God," 1 Peter 5:6 instructs, "that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." 
Dealing with anger may not be easy, but it is possible.  And one thing is certain.  It is something that we must do.
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice," Paul states in Ephesians 4:31-32. 
"And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." 
"But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, {and} abusive speech from your mouth," we are commanded in Colossians 3:8. 
"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident," Paul points out in Galatians 5:19-23, "which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 
We need to try to deal with anger in our lives.  But there is one kind of anger that we must avoid at all cost.  
"A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;" Nahum 1:2-3 reveals, "the Lord is avenging and wrathful.  The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. 
"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave {the guilty} unpunished.  In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet." 
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness," 2 Peter 3:9-10 states, "but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 
"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins," we learn from Hebrews 10:26-31, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
"Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on {the testimony of} two or three witnesses. 
"How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 
"For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' 
"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 
"But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God," Paul writes in Romans 2:5.
"And to wait for His Son from heaven," 1 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "whom He raised from the dead, {that is} Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." 
How can we avoid the anger of God?  Only Jesus and His truth can deliver us from our Maker's wrath.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."