Cease From Anger – Sunday, November 14, 1982
The English dramatist, John Webster, observed that, “There is not in nature a thing that makes man so deformed, so beastly, as doth intemperate anger.”
He was not alone in his observation. In virtually every culture and time, wise men and prophets have noted how destructive anger is. In the words of a Chinese proverb, “The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him.”
And yet, how many times have we excused our anger, or excused our actions because of it? Many people treat anger as though it were some sort of unavoidable consequence, an emotion that cannot be controlled. They say, “I couldn’t help myself,” or “I blew up,” as though anger were an emotion thrust upon them and for which they have no personal responsibility.
But the scriptures are clear about our responsibility concerning anger. “Cease from anger,” the Psalmist writes, “and forsake wrath.”1
Why? Because we cannot control our lives unless we do. Anger is not an “active” emotion but is “reactive.” In a very real sense, it depends on the actions of others, and it makes us submissive to those actions. Someone hurts or offends us, and we become angry. Thus, the angry person is forever the “effect” of some other “cause.”
There is no profit in anger—no peace, no joy, no love. There are those who presume to be angry because of love or concern, but in truth, anger springs from fear and weakness, from an inability to control what has been given us to control. True love, and the peace and joy that spring from it, overcome anger; they make us “effective” rather than mere “effects.”
“Cease from anger,” the Psalmist writes, “For…those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.”2
1 Old Testament, Psalms 37:8
2 Old Testament, Psalms 37:8,9
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November 14, 1982
Broadcast Number 2,778