Anger Vs. Self-Control

• Can you remember a time when you were quick to get angry?

• Can you remember a time when you were slow to get angry?

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
James 1:19

James teaches us in this verse that we should be slow to become angry, “because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20). God wants us to learn to control our anger. It’s part of the transformation that we undergo as believers.

Galatians 5:23 tells us that a fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control. We can’t learn to control our anger in the moment that we’re about to become angry. We need to first lay the foundation. We should commit to honoring God with our behavior and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to spend time in the Word and in prayer. If we work at it, even those of us with strong tempers will be able to control our anger.

If the Bible says that God wants us to be slow to become angry, he will help make that happen. We just have to want it, work at it and let him help us.

PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for being patient with us. Please give us the desire to tame our anger. Please help us to have self-control. Amen.