READING:
One-year plan: Ezekiel 10-13, James 1
Two-year plan: 1 Chronicles 3:1-4:23, John 14:27-15:8
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My dad, prior to his conversion at age 71, had a violent, eruptive temper. When I confronted him as an adult, his response was simple: “It’s always best to let your anger out. It’s never good to keep it in; you’re better off after you’ve expressed your anger.” I doubt he would have said that anger itself is good, but he did contend it was good to express it—even if in an uncontrolled way. What he did not realize until many years later was that his anger was leaving wounds and scars among all its targets.
I thought of my dad’s anger when I read how James described ungodly anger: “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20). Scholars interpret that last phrase in various ways (e.g., “the righteous life that God desires,” “the righteous status that God confers on us,”*), but the point is that unrighteous anger produces little. Man-centered anger simply doesn’t accomplish anything of value. As one writer concluded, “James’s very simple point is that human anger does not produce behavior that is pleasing to God. Presumably, he is thinking especially of different sinful acts, such as violence, murder (see Matt. 5:21–26 and Jas. 4:2–3), and especially, in this context, unwise speech, that stem from anger.”**
For those of us with anger in our bloodline, it’s again good to remember this truth: human anger does not take us in the direction of God.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you an angry person?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, help me to be quick to listen and slow to speak.”
MONDAY’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Ezekiel 14-16, James 2
Two-year plan: 1 Chronicles 4:24-5:26, John 15:9-25
*Moo, D. J. (2015). James: An Introduction and Commentary (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Second edition, Vol. 16, p. 107). Inter-Varsity Press.
**Moo, D. J. (2000). The letter of James (p. 84). Eerdmans; Apollos.