Venomous

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

—James 1:19-20

Sometimes, anger feels really good, doesn’t it? Honestly, I’m not usually an angry guy. But when I do get angry -- after a fight with someone or when I feel I’ve been treated unfairly -- I can hold on to it for a while. It doesn’t feel healthy, exactly, but it can be energizing. It can give you a focus and purpose and a sense that you WILL do what needs doing.

But as we learned from the great teacher Peter Parker recently (in Spider-Man 3), the power available through our anger eventually destroys the things we care most about. At first, Peter’s anger -- represented by the black goo from outer space -- gave him confidence, freedom from worrying all the time what everybody else thought. But when you’re running on anger, it’s a quick trip from confidence to arrogance, from not being a “pleaser” to becoming a “hater.”

Interesting fact: The Bible never describes feeling angry as a sin in itself. It’s an emotion we all get filled up with at times. Jesus did. Paul did. You do. Instead, the Bible teaches over and over that sin follows anger, that anger opens the door to sin. That’s why we’re commanded to learn to control that emotion.

In today's passage, James wrote that we must learn to trust God more so that it takes longer for us to get angry. People who really believe God is in control of all of life can’t easily be thrown into a rage. On the flip side, Paul taught in Ephesians 4 that when we must also learn to dump angry feelings quickly -- before the end of the day, even.

Why such a big deal? James said even when it makes us feel powerful, anger never takes us toward the life God wants for us. And if you’re not moving toward it, you will move away from it. Paul said it’s worse than that: Unresolved anger gives demonic forces a foothold into our lives. It’s a doorway for the enemy to begin to have some influence on our thinking, feelings, and choices. (Venom's wicked look kind of fits with that idea.)

I know. I know. It’s easy to just say, “Don’t get angry.” It’s a tough thing to control. But the first step is to admit that it must be controlled if we’re going to learn to walk like Jesus, to find a life worth living. It starts with confessing to God that sometimes our anger controls us and that we need His help to beat it. Then we go back to square one: “. . . be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow[er] to become angry [than we were the last time] . . .”