"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." - James 1:19
"Get rid of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice." - Ephesians 4:31
What this means
As someone who has spent their entire life with a twin brother, I know what it's like to get beyond angry at someone. It can become incredibly easy to blame, yell, and even fight whenever we got mad at each other. When we got older, we became more mature and could handle these things and figure out better ways to get through it and it became easier to avoid getting angry. We figured out that it's important to hear both sides of the story and to listen when we can. When we have a mutual understanding, it helps us individually to respond in love and grace rather than anger. However, it is important to acknowledge that even after the dust has settled and the argument is finished, we can't hold it over each others heads. If we hold onto that bitterness, rage, malice, whatever it may be, we start to ignore what God tells us. He commands us to love each other and if we continue to hold grudges, we disobey him so the best thing to do when finishing a heated conversation is to forgive each other, put it behind you, and continue doing what you can to love them because even when Jesus was wronged, he still forgave and loved.
Is it okay to be angry?
This is a question that gets asked a lot. The Bible says to be slow to anger and to get rid of all forms of malice, but is it still okay to be angry? Well, if we look at the Bible, we will find that the answer is actually yes, it is. When we take a look at Matthew 21, we see one occasion in which Jesus got angry. You may know this story because of its iconic image of Jesus flipping tables outside of the temple. Jesus was angry because people were selling things right outside the temple and turning it from a place of worship to a marketplace. The buyers and sellers were also blocking the entryway preventing anyone from going inside to worship. This is severely disgraceful to God. So Jesus naturally rid the temple of its evil so that people could worship selflessly. Is this saying that we should start flipping tables when we are mad at someone? Of course not because that was a very specific scenario in which Jesus was clearing the house of the lord of the religious people so that the people who have a relationship with God can worship him. This does not really happen often in todays world so it is not an excuse to go and do the same. Even after Jesus was mad and these events took place, he still loved them because they were still sons and daughters of the King. It's okay to be angry at someone as long as you are still loving them because that is what us as followers of Christ are called to do. Love overpowers anger in every situation!
How to be slow to anger
The first thing to becoming slow to anger is patience. As followers of Jesus, we need to be patient with everybody no matter the circumstances. And it happens when you are mid argument and you are doing the best you can to remain patient until that one point where you have hit your limit. It becomes so easy to fire everything you have at the other person with destructive intent and forget that there is no end to patience. But it is crucial to remember that there is no limit to Gods love and He created that person with a purpose to glorify him. God loves them no matter what they do and we need to keep that mindset instead of attacking the other person. It can be incredibly difficult but when you remember who you are in Christ and love them unconditionally, it makes it significantly easier to have patience with them and to continue with the intent to lift up instead of tear down. This could look like listening to their side and sharing your side and coming to an agreement on how to resolve the conflict. Take the time to analyze the argument to see if it is really something to be angry about. Nine times out of ten, it really won't be and you would be surprised at how many times you have been mad at someone for something so small. Back to love, it simply cannot be emphasized enough. Because the King of kings loves us unconditionally, if we want to be more like Jesus, we need to do every single thing in love and when we do that, everything else will fall into place!
Takeaway
The devil has a lot of power in this world to divide people in any way he can and that includes anger. It is okay to be mad at someone but it is never okay to act upon it. Remember, there is danger in anger. Discuss in through a Christian lens, love, and forgive. The devil cannot have any power when we use Gods word to resolve our anger so I encourage you to take this into consideration when you feel angry and love others as God loves you!
By: Tyler Dixon
