LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON OKLAHOMA

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CHAPTER 27

ANGER

IT DOES no good to be angry. A man feels no better for it. It is really a torment, and when the storm of passion has cleared away, it leaves a person to see that he has been very unwise and has made himself a fool in the eyes of others.

Sinful anger, when it becomes strong, is called wrath; when it makes outrages, it is fury; when it becomes fixed, it is termed hatred; and when it intends to injure any one, it is called malice. All these wicked passions spring from anger. The continuance of anger and frequent fits of ill temper produce an evil habit in the soul, a propensity to be angry, which oftentimes ends in ire, bitterness, and morosity, when the mind becomes ulcerated, peevish, and querulous, and like a thin, weak plate of iron, receives impressions, and is wounded by the least occurrence.

A fit of passion may give you cause to mourn all the days of your life. What crime has not been committed in the paroxysms of anger? Has not the friend slain his friend? the son murdered his parents? the creature blasphemed his Creator? Who wishes for s neighbor or a partner in business a person given to anger? One feels as if one were living next door to a hornet’s nest or a rabid animal. What is gained by anger? Will a bad temper draw customers, pay notes, or make creditors any better?

Friendship, domestic happiness, self-respect, the esteem of others, and sometimes property are swept away by a whirlwind, perhaps a tornado, of anger. I have seen anger make wives unhappy, alienate husbands, spoil children, derange all harmony, and disturb the quiet of a whole neighborhood. Anger, like too much wine, hides us from ourselves but exposes us to others.

Some people seem to live in a perpetual storm. Our advice is to keep cool under all circumstances. We should learn to command our feelings and to act prudently in all the ordinary concerns of life. This will better prepare us to meet sudden emergencies with calmness and fortitude. If we permit our feelings to be ruffled and disconcerted in small matters, they will be thrown into a whirlwind when big events overtake us. Our best antidote is salvation.

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32). “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated” (Proverbs 14:17). “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Proverbs 15:18). “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (verse 1).