Anger Resides In The Lap Of Fools
The Bible teaches that holding on to anger makes us foolish. Prolonged feelings of anger point to an unforgiving heart toward past offenses and people who have hurt us. This kind of gnawing unforgiveness eventually leads to resentment, deep bitterness, and even physical sickness that can harm us first and other relationships and people.
Short-tempered irritability is a sign of unresolved anger and often expresses itself in criticism or sarcasm disguised as teasing. It can also erupt into fury, contempt, violence, and abusive behaviors. No one wants to be seen as a fool, but it will only be a matter of time before our foolishness is revealed if we hang onto anger:
Ecclesiastes 7:9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Proverbs 14:17A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.
Proverbs 14:29Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
Proverbs 19:11Sensible people control their temper they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
Proverbs 29:11Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
Proverbs 30:33As the beating of cream yields butter and striking the nose causes bleeding, so stirring up anger causes quarrels.
How To Deal With Anger Biblically
Overcoming anger in the bible.
Many times, anger comes as a result of not been patient enough with people.
I used to get angry sometimes even before someone concluded his/her statement.
The best way to deal with anger or overcome anger as far as I know is love. One of the attributes of love is patience.
If you love someone you will be patient with that person, sometimes it hurts but you are still patient because your love for that person compelled you to.
You dont always have to reply or respond to every word. Been slow to anger means that even when you have the right to respond, yet you simply ignore as though it wasnt you they were referring to.
I know that such decisions might make you look foolish to your offender, but it actually makes you better, wiser, and stronger than your offender.
It doesnt matter what they think or say about you.
What matters is that you have done the right thing before God and He is pleased with you.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, you will become more gentle, kind, and patient.
Words Can Fuel Or Diffuse Anger
Words have great power and its no different when it comes to anger. Proverbs tells us that a gentle word can turn away wrath and that a harsh one can stir it up. The power you have to fuel or diffuse anger in a tense conversation or situation is both heavy and fragile. You can completely change the dynamic of a situation with one word.
When youre faced with the chance to fuel or diffuse anger, what words will you choose to use?
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F Work To Solve The Problem That Angered You
This may seem obvious, but most angry people do the opposite. We may say we are trying to solve the problem, but really we are trying to hurt the person who angered us. Instead of attacking the problem, we attack the person.
First determine exactly what happened that angered you.
The issue is not who angered you, but what happened to anger you. Learn to distinguish the act from the person. Hate the sin, but love the sinner. Striking out to hurt the person will not solve the problem. Seek to destroy the bad conduct, while helping the person who committed it.
Note: some problems are not worth being angry over. Learn to distinguish serious problems from imaginary or unimportant ones. If the problem is not worth working on, it isn’t worth being angry over. Forget it and go on. If it’s important enough to make you justifiably angry, then use your anger to work on the problem.
Use your energy constructively to solve the problem.
Anger is a natural reaction intended to prepare the body for action. The question is: what action is proper?
* Blowing up and attacking the person who angered you is the wrong action.
* Blowing up and attacking an innocent bystander is worse.
* Holding a grudge does not solve the problem.
* The only proper way to “be angry and sin not” is to use your natural energy to work on the problem.
Go talk to the person who caused the problem for the purpose of working out a solution.
Speak with genuine concern for others.
Say what is necessary.
Dont Stay Angry Forever
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. Micah 7:18
God is holy. He has every right to feel angry toward us, 100%t of the time because we break his laws every day. Yet our holy God chooses to pardon and forgive us because Jesus paid the price for our wrongdoings on the cross.
God has the right to stay angry at us and punish us. But in his love and compassion, he shows us mercy. We also need to get rid of grudges and choose compassion and mercy instead of anger. By following God as our example, we can refuse to let anger take permanent hold in our hearts.
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Fools Allow Room For Anger
Anger is accounted in the Bible as something expressed by a fool many times. Its because when we give into anger and we lose rational thought, wisdom also goes out the door. We dont make wise decisions in our anger and in fact, we can make very poor choices. These moments of outburst can be a poor reflection on us and thus, be a reflection of foolishness.
A wise person learns to hold back on anger or to step away from the situation.
Two Types Of Anger In The Bible
To feel angry is part of being human, but uncontrolled anger can harm both the person who harbors it as well as those around him/her. There are many passages about anger in the Bible, including stories of Bible characters who lost their tempers, and what it tells us is that anger in and of itself is not necessarily sinful, but often what we do with it can lead us to sin or not.
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You Can Control Your Sinful Anger
Christ died both to take away the guilt of our sins and to give us power through the indwelling Holy Spirit to overcome our sins. Pauls simple command to put aside our anger implies that we can control it. He doesnt make exceptions for those with short fuses or for those who have been victimized. He just says , Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
You may protest, But the problem is, I cant control it! I explode before I think about it. Telling me to stop being angry is like Bob Newhart telling that claustrophobic woman to stop it. But thats not true. I offer two proofs:
First, the Bible never commands us to do what we cannot do by the power ofGods indwelling Spirit. Besides Pauls commands here and in Ephesians, there are many other direct commands in the Bible. The Book of Proverbs has well over a dozen verses about controlling anger . God told Cain that he must master his sin . While Cain probably did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling him, if he had cried out, God, I cant master my sin! Give me Your strength to obey You, God graciously would have answered.
So the first step when youre angry is to stop long enough to analyze it: Is it righteous, sinful, or mixed. Then, realize that you can control your sinful anger.
Saved From Gods Wrath
In the Bible, its a tragedy when God hides his face and gives us what we want. It means that humanity cant accomplish the task for which we were created, to be his royal image-bearing creatures. This is why the story of the Bible finds its climax in Jesus. God was not content to let humanity destroy itself, so he came to rescue us. Here is how Paul reflects on this in his letter to the Romans.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from Gods wrath through him! For if, while we were Gods enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
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Lessons About Anger From People In The Bible
Cain
Cain was a farmer. His younger brother, Abel, was a shepherd. Both of them bought offerings to God, but God favored Abels offering and rejected Cains. This made Cain very angry with God and jealous of his brother. Instead of judging Cain for his anger,
God gave him a chance to overcome his sin:
The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:6-7, ESV
Cain refused to see things the way they were, and instead of addressing his heart issues and trying to determine why God had not been pleased with his offering, he allowed his sin to get the better of him. Cain took his anger out on Abel and murdered him. As a result, God banished him from his home and condemned him to be a wanderer for the rest of his life.
Lesson: Unchecked anger can lead to disastrous consequences.
Moses
Moses had been leading the people of Israel through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. They were thirsty and discontented and complained once again about how they should never have left Egypt. Moses asked God for help, and the Lord told him to speak to the rock and it would bring forth water.
Nehemiah
Lesson: God-honoring anger in response to sin is righteous anger that seeks to restore rather than destroy.
In James : 1 What Is Passions
James 4:1-3 and 1:13-16 teaches that passions/cravings/pleasures = our desires/motives. And these desires/motives underlie conflicts. Why do you fight? It is not because of your wife, mom, dad, child, friend, coworker, or neighbor. It is because of something within you! Within all of us!
- What are you demanding?
- What rules you?
- What is ruling you at this moment?
In contemporary language, sinful passions/cravings/pleasures often pose as, drives, demands, felt needs, expectations, goals, wishes, longings, and so forth. People talk about motives in ways that anesthetize themselves and others to the true significance of what they are describing. So what is happening to my desires?
Back to the angry outburst leaving the church parking lot. Behind the anger was a desire and motivation. For example, lets use our need to be respected or to control our outcomes. So when our desire for respect was getting frustrated and not happened the way we wanted it to we acted out in anger. Why? Because we had ungodly reasons and did it in ungodly ways. But what makes our desire bad vs when it is good?
Note: A great resource to help us understand our desires and motivations within a Biblical framework is from a book called, See with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture. By David Powlison. Specifically Chapter 8, I Am Motivated When I feel Desire.
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Consequences Or Dangers Of Anger In The Bible
Anger is very dangerous, it is a major tool in the hand of the devil.
The devil could actually help you nurture anger and gradually it grows, before you know it he uses it as a weapon and you his tool to carry out his purpose.
Gradually he adds envy, then bitterness, then unforgiveness, and before long you become hostile and people are scared of you.
You know that the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in that kind of environment.
You can get angry if you need to, but dont let the sun go down on your anger. Ephesians 4:5. Dont let the devil use it as a tool.
Bible Verses About Anger
The Bible provides profound wisdom when it comes to understanding anger. There are many verses that talk about anger, and within Scripture we find that there are even stories of biblical figures getting angry.
But for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? .
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: The days of mourning for my father are approaching then I will kill my brother Jacob .
Both narratives about anger teach vital lessons about the danger of anger and how it leads to sin. God does not want us living out of anger. Scripture also gives helpful advice and knowledge about anger so we can be alert and know how to choose righteousness, instead of sinning in our anger.
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel .
Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man .
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools .
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What Does The Bible Say About Being Angry
Scripture conveys that there are two types of anger: righteous anger and human anger. Righteous anger is being angry about evil and things in opposition to God. In the Bible, there are verses in which God is described as being angry.
So, the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence .
God was angry with Israel because they had sinned against him, participated in idolatry, and chose their sinful desires over His ways. Sin, evil, injustice, and the like should make us angry. Human trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse, and murder are just a few of the evils in the world that should cause us to mourn and be angry, just as God is righteously angry over such devastating evil.
Righteous anger is legitimate and in line with what Scripture teaches. However, what most of us feel day in and day out is not righteous anger toward evil, but human anger toward our family, friends, strangers, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This type of anger usually lacks compassion, humility, and love. Human anger gives way to evil .
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires .
Lets Get Real With Each Other
- Its OK to be honest with other people Its OK to be honest with other people when youre angry with God. Jeremiah was angry with God, and he wrote about it in his prophecy. People have been reading what he wrote for two and a half thousand years. And God, apparently, didnt mind him being honest about it. God can cope with it. In fact, if we believe that God inspired the Bible, God chose for Jeremiahs angry words to be included in his inspired Word. This means that its OK to be honest with other people when youre angry with God.
- How do we react when people are honest with us? But lets turn it the other way round for a moment: how do we react when people are honest with us about being angry with God? If its OK to be angry with God, and its OK to be honest with other people why are we sometimes so hard on people when theyre honest about how theyre feeling? When theyre honest about feeling angry with God, or upset or disappointed with God? Why do we make it so difficult for them? Why do we add to their difficulties?If someone is angry with God, or if they have some other issue, and theyre honest with you about it, dont jump in to sort them out. God is big enough to cope with it.
- Listen to them.
- Dont rush to judge them
- Dont feel the need to put them right
- Dont feel the need to put them down
- Dont gossip about it. Pray for them!
In the New Testament, Paul says: Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. .
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