Posts Tagged ‘anger’

Bible Verses On Anger – Part 2

by Coralyn Vega | May 11th, 2010 | Coralyn Vega | Comments Off

When Moshe (Hebrew name of Moses) asked to see the Heavenly Father’s glory, ADONAI (Hebrew for the LORD) came down in a cloud and Exodus 34:6 in the Complete Jewish Bible says:

ADONAI passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth…

Our Heavenly Father wanted to show Moshe that His name was associated to His character traits, the first four of which being that He is:

merciful
compassionate
slow to anger
rich in grace and truth

Do you notice that all four traits are very similar to each other?
Merriam Webster defines them as follows:

merciful – compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment
compassionate – showing sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it (we’re all sinners against God yet He shows us His sympathy and helps us)
slow to anger – (our transgressions give Him every reason to be angry yet He is slow to anger with us)
rich in grace and truth – (grace is undeserved favor, we don’t deserve it because of our sinfulness)

What character traits is your name associated with? What would your friends and family say about you or think about you? Would they recognize you as a child of God, who is merciful, compassionate, slow to anger and rich in grace and truth as He is?

Proverbs 14:29 gives us further reason to be slow to anger:

Being slow to anger goes with great understanding, being quick-tempered makes folly still worse.

If being slow to anger goes with great understanding, we can probably deduce that being quick to anger means we lack understanding. We may lack consideration of the trials and temptations of others, and fail to show sympathy, and instead show anger. The verse goes on to say that being quick-tempered makes folly even worse. Sometimes we get angry in order to speedily correct a problem, but the Word of God says it only makes it worse. Wow! I never knew that was in there! But it makes sense. It reminds me of when Yeshua said in Matthew 7:1-5,

1 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.
2 For the way you judge others is how you will be judged — the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you.
3 Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the log in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ when you have the log in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye!

Is not being angry with another passing judgement on them? Is it not saying that at that moment your sin is not as terrible as their sin, which justifies you being angry, which is totally false because even God, the One who has the most right of all to be angry, is slow to anger?

Sometimes we don’t like it that God is slow to anger. Sometimes we are like Jonah when He saw Nineveh forgiven as in Jonah 4:2 when it says:

He prayed to ADONAI, “Now, ADONAI, didn’t I say this would happen, when I was still in my own country? That’s why I tried to get away to Tarshish ahead of time! I knew you were a God who is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in grace, and that you relent from inflicting punishment.

He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because He knew that God was slow to anger and might forgive them! Being slow to anger is a virtue, and one that we should thank God for having because if He did not we would be consumed. The Messiah once said, “if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours Matthew 6:15.” Can we not apply that to anger as well? If He can be slow to anger towards us, we must also be slow to anger towards others.

James 1:19-20 says,

Therefore, my dear brothers, let every person be quick to listen but slow to speak, slow to get angry; for a person’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness!

So the final reason to be slow to anger is that it can not accomplish what is right in God’s eyes. It causes sorrow, strife, fear, hopelessness, etc. Let us instead remember that “a tranquil mind (one that is calm, peace, quiet) gives health to the body (Proverbs 14:30).”

Tags: anger

Bible Verses on Anger – Part 1

by Coralyn Vega | April 22nd, 2010 | Articles | Comments Off

Holistic health and healing has to do not only with what we eat and how we exercise, but also with our social relationships and our spiritual life. One of the greatest obstacles in my life is my battle with anger, which I inherited since childhood. This was one of the major things that made my teachers in grade school refer me to seek the help of counselors & the like, as I mentioned in my testimony of healing. Anger is something that mental health professionals try to conquer through psychology and drugs, but these are usually just attempts to lessen or mask the problem. The true answer to freedom from anger lies with the “Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).”

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. [Genesis 4:6,7 KJV]

This is the first mention I could find of anger in the Bible. In the passage above, Cain was angry because his offering was not accepted by God. His offering was not accepted because it was not right. God says to Cain that if we don’t do what’s right, “sin lieth at the door,” or it is very easy for us to fall into sin. Sin will “desire” us, but we are commanded to “rule over” the temptation of sin.

Sometimes when we get angry, it is because, like Cain, we have not done something right, and are reaping the consequences. Even if we think it is the other person’s fault – maybe someone offends us, or a child misbehaves – what if we are angry at that person not really because of what the other person has done, but because we have done something wrong – because we are holding the character flaw of impatience. Proverbs 19:11 in the Complete Jewish Bible says,

People with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.

So being slow to anger is good sense, and if someone offends you, it is better for us to overlook it! However if the matter at hand actually necessitates your correction, such as disciplining children, or if someone you really care about really offends you and you feel you must confront them, anger is still not the solution. Proverbs 25:15 says,

With patience a ruler may be won over, and a gentle tongue can break bones.

Now if patience can persuade a great and mighty ruler, how much more someone at your own level or even someone whom you have authority under, such as a child or someone working for you or serving you? If a gentle tongue is mighty enough to “break a bone” (so to speak), it can surely accomplish what you desire better than anger can.

Another verse that comes to mind is Romans 2:4:

Or perhaps you despise the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience; because you don’t realize that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to turn from your sins.

It is God’s kindness forbearance, and patience that actually causes us to turn from disobedience to His law, so as His children, should we not use the same methods with others – spouses, children, friends, etc.?

Galatians 5:22-23 says,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things.

And if we are weak in any of these things, the Heavenly Father bids us to ask, seek and knock!

So, next time you get angry, maybe it would be good to NOT take any immediate action, but to instead reflect on WHY you are angry, and see if there is even the smallest chance that you may be partly responsible your own anger – because of a lack of the Spirit – of patience. If we took the blame that is rightfully ours, maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to be angry at others?

Tags: anger, bible verses, faith