Putting Out the Fire of Anger — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

I’ve been reading that thousands of Tasmanian devils have died from a rare type of cancer. It’s called devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) that was detected in the 1990s. Scientists discovered that this cancer began in the mouth of a single devil and spread through the bites of that animal. Tasmanian devils bite each other around the mouth quite often.

And this cancer spreads through the bites, and over the course of several years, over 40% of the Tasmanian devil population has died because of this cancer. It’s quite sad really, but it reminded me of another type of cancer which is more common the cancer of uncontrolled anger putting out the fire of anger. It’s like a smouldering mass of embers that can easily flare up again.

Fire which has not been properly extinguished can erupt to bring havoc. It’s very difficult for us to love other people while we’re angry at them, which means that it’s becoming more and more difficult for us to love because our world just seems to be getting angrier. People in the mental health profession say that we live in the age of rage, and if you spend any time at all in the public, then you’ve probably witnessed people’s rage.

Whether it’s behind the wheel of a car or on a plane flight or on a customer service desk, even on the phone these days, we’re being asked to be civil, and companies are telling us that angry or disrespectful responses will not be tolerated.

So many terrible things have been said and things that have been done, and so many precious relationships have been destroyed because of someone’s quick temper.

In the Bible, the apostle Paul wrote words from 1 Corinthians 13:5 that include these.

Love is not selfish or quick tempered. Another version says love does not blaze out in passionate anger. Think about the last time that you lost your temper, and you’ll realise that when it happened, you were thinking about yourself. Maybe it’s because you think someone else has wronged you. Here am I sitting in the doctor’s office for 45 minutes. How dare they waste my time? How dare you ignore me? Sound familiar?

There’s no telling what’s going to come out when we let our anger get out of control. There’s a proverb that says, anger is a stone cast into a wasp’s nest.

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That’s quite an appropriate image. If you’ve ever seen a wasp’s nest disturbed, you’ll know that all sorts of unpleasant stuff come flying out, and that’s the same thing that happens when you rub a quick tempered person up the wrong way. Have you ever been on the receiving end of such an outburst? I certainly have. There are some people who, when you’re around them, you know, you must walk on eggshells.

Because you know that they are easily offended. One little thing doesn’t go their way and kaboom, and if you say something to them about it, they probably say, Yeah, I have a bad temper, but I get it all out and it’s over within a few minutes. That may well be true, but you could say the same thing about a bomb. Look at the devastation it leaves behind.

Our rage may create resentments that last a lifetime, and in fact we may completely destroy our relationship with the people we love the most.

The Bible’s got quite a lot to say on the subject of losing your temper.

In Proverbs 19:11, Solomon gave some wise advice. Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offence. In Ecclesiastes 7:9, he said, Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the hearts of fools.

In the New Testament, James said, 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. In other words, losing your temper is not going to bring you any closer to God. In fact, quite the opposite. It’s very likely to take you further away from God.

I’ve heard that in the Polynesian islands where the natives spend a lot of time warring and fighting, it’s customary for every man to keep visible reminders of his hatred. They do this by suspending little articles from the roof of their huts, and each article represents something about somebody they hate. Imagine everybody’s house decorated like that.

Perhaps we do that more than we like to admit. We don’t hang them from our ceilings, of course, but we do hang them on to our minds. But that’s not what love does, and it’s not what God does. Don’t let the smouldering ash of uncontrolled anger destroy your peace of mind or even affect your health. Instead, let God’s love flood your heart and soul.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, I admit that there are times when I have let my anger get the better of me. Lord, it is like that fire that gets out of control and brings havoc to people’s lives. Help me to remember the biblical principles of love and care and patience, tolerance and forgiveness. Amen.

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