Slow to Anger
know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20
In the book of James, he warns us about the dangers of anger. While anger does have a time and place, we must guard against it controlling us. The Bible often warns about anger and bitterness rising within us and leading us into temptation. As Christians, we have to be on guard with these battles.
In particular, anger can seep into our relationships with other Christians. One of the difficulties that we face is that we struggle with our communication with one another. In the face of these miscommunications, we can develop feelings of bitterness. These emotions are why James warns us against speaking too quickly. Listening is invaluable to building and maintaining relationships with others. When we stop listening, anger and mistrust can build up on both sides.
To maintain the proper mindset, we need to prepare ourselves for communicating with others. One thing that we do as a mental exercise is to imagine future confrontations. These imaginations can be valuable tools or dangerous enemies. If we envision ourselves being misunderstood and frustrated as we talk, we are preparing ourselves to feel that way in the heat of the moment. In sports, coaches tell players to picture how they will perform before a game. These exercises help them prepare for real-life situations.
When meditating, we need to practice calm thoughts. Instead of being angry and emotional, we should imagine being patient and listening to the other person. We need to develop a mindset of understanding. If our meditations are always angry and misunderstood, our lives will follow the same pattern.
James also mentions while we are quick to listen, we need to be slow to speak and slow to anger. There is a strong connection between our anger and speaking foolishly. James 3 emphasizes how dangerous this is. In this chapter, James discusses the power of the tongue. It can start fires we are unable to stamp out. Anger can cause us to say things that deeply wound those we love. It can also cause us to gossip about them because we are “just venting frustration”. The quicker we are to anger, the sooner we will speak in that anger.
These warnings are especially true because once things are said and done in anger, they are finished. Forgiveness can be granted, but we can never revoke actions and words given in a fit of rage. Let us always be focused on developing a mindset of peace and listening.
know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20