Temper, Temper
Several months ago I watched my oldest son playing basketball and I found myself seething with rage. Clearly my son is not a pachyderm yet the opposing team was jumping all over him like he was. I complained a little bit, but I knew I was going to get myself in trouble so I just walked out of the arena. Probably not the best strategy but it was all I could come up with at the moment to not lose my composure.
In the past, I justified my anger and looked upon it as a virtue. I told myself that I just had strong feelings. "I couldn’t help it." "That’s just the way that I am." We tend to tell ourselves this about many things. The trouble is that this is wrong. It might seem hard to believe but sometimes our feelings are actually wrong. Just because we feel something does not mean our feeling is correct or in the correct proportion. That is certainly true of anger.
Proverbs 29:11 warns that “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” Yeah, that one hurts. Just when I justify my outbursts as righteous and well earned, God reminds me that they are an expression of foolishness. Someone who loses his mind and rants all the time is not passionate; he is a fool. Ouch. Don’t take it up with me. Take it up with God. He said it!
Certainly there are times anger is warranted and not sinful. However, most of the time anger tends to be selfish, harsh, and destructive. Scripture warns repeatedly of the dangers a hot temper brings our way. “A hot tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute” (Proverbs 15:18). “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” (Proverbs 16:32). “He who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:27). There are many more I could mention, but this is the last passage I will share: “Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit” (Proverbs 25:28).
If a fool is one who gives full vent to his spirit, I don’t want to be a fool. The problem with being a fool is that there isn’t some cure or prayer that you pray to instantly transform yourself into a person of wisdom. Wisdom comes by cultivating self-control. And that is a process. Sometimes you find yourself making great strides. Other times, you feel like you haven’t moved. Be patient. If you will daily surrender to God’s Spirit and confess your sin, you are making progress towards a Spirit-controlled life.