Be Slow to Anger

Grace To You.org ^ | 1993 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

"Let everyone be . . . slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God" (James 1:19-20).

If you resent God’s Word, you cannot grow in righteousness.

Have you ever started reading your Bible, thinking everything was fine between you and the Lord, only to have the Word suddenly cut deep into your soul to expose some sin you had neglected or tried to hide? That commonly happens because God seeks to purge sin in His children. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to penetrate the hidden recesses of the heart to do His convicting and purifying work. How you respond to that process is an indicator of the genuineness of your faith.

"Anger" in James 1:19-20 refers to a negative response to that process. It is a deep internal resentment accompanied by an attitude of rejection. Sometimes that resentment can be subtle. Paul described those who "will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires" (2 Tim. 4:3). They're the people who drift from church to church in search of someone who will tell them what they want to hear—or a congregation that wants a pastor who will make them feel good about themselves instead of preaching the Word and setting a high standard of holiness.

Sometimes resentment toward the Word ceases to be subtle and turns to open hostility. That happened when the crowd Stephen confronted covered their ears, drove him out of the city, and stoned him to death (Acts 7:57-60). Countless others throughout history have felt the fatal blows of those whose resentment of God's truth turned to hatred for His people.

Receiving the Word includes being quick to hear what it says and slow to anger when it disagrees with your opinions or confronts your sin. Is that your attitude? Do you welcome its reproof and heed its warnings, or do you secretly resent it? When a Christian brother or sister confronts a sin in your life, do you accept or reject their counsel?

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for the power of His Word to convict you and drive you to repentance. Welcome its correction with humility and thanksgiving.

For Further Study

Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5, noting the charge Paul gave to Timothy and his reason for giving it.

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[budj]

True, anger is dangerous.
But you must know the time
Ecclesiastes 3:
“For everything there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under heaven:
… a time to love, and a time to hate;
… a time for war, and a time for peace.”

[DannyTN]

Ephesians 4:26 King James Version (KJV)
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

[A_Former_Democrat]

Atheists, naacp, la raza, nea, et al

Please take note

Don’t let the sun go down on your childish wrath, esp your fake wrath

TIA,

God

[robroys woman]

Ecclesiastes is my favorite old testament book. I see proverbs as Wisdom 101 and Ecclesiastes as the graduate course.

[taxcontrol]

I have to admit, this is one of my greatest struggles.

[TheConservativeParty]

That is one of my favorite Scripture verses. I wrote it on a bookmark years ago. It is good to remember this verse about human anger not representing the perfection of Almighty God.

Thanks for posting!