Walking with the Wise #190: Cooler Heads Will Prevail

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, 

but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” 

—Proverbs 14:29

Anger is the most unpredictable of all emotions. More volatile than a volcano, more destructive than lava, it can erupt at any moment, without the slightest hint of agitation or aggression. It can separate close friends, scar family members, injure co-workers, and cause war among nations. Made in the image of God, we experience a multitude of emotions of which anger is one.

God gets angry, but His anger is perfect and pure, an expression of response to injustice, or a slight to His person. His anger is not capricious, but rooted in the essence of His being, a moral certitude that is in response to fixed laws of divine sovereignty.

Our anger is not so pure, nor perfect. Like everything of our humanity, it too has passed through the Fall and now is subject to the whims of experience—physical discomfort, mental frailty, emotional exhaustion, relational perceptions, and a host of other factors. We must learn to control our anger, and that control can only truly come from the Spirit of God. When we come to know Christ, He gives us His Spirit, which enables us to have self-control and no longer be a slave to sin, or our emotions (cf. Galatians 5:23). We must learn to put into practice the words of James:

“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. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls”—James 1:19-21.

If we learn to control our anger, then we show that we have great understanding, but if we continually give vent to our anger, then we are showing that we are fools—like spreading gasoline around a field on the 4th of July where fireworks are being set off. Control your anger, live the life of Christ as God’s Spirit is growing up the Son of God within you, and become a fountain of blessing, not a volcano of destruction to those around you, as they marvel at the Son of God’s work within you, for His glory and your joy. Amen.