I write this post to myself. I was once a very angry man. But I believed I now had anger under control. More recently, I'm not so sure. Manipulative people and manipulative institutions both deliberately goad the anger of those they want to control--anger is a great motivator. The media, celebrities, politicians, organizations and advertisers do the same thing. Other people, though, habitually but unconsciously manipulate by continually rehearsing their angry reveries for others to hear, wishing either to bring their hearers into their angry world or to intimidate by fear of what they might do in anger. And I am weak to all of these ploys. So I present the following study, which consists only of quotations from Scripture about human anger, its causes and antidote.
He who is slow to anger has great understanding,
Proverbs 14:29 (WEB)
but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
An angry man stirs up strife,
Proverbs 29:22 (WEB)
and a wrathful man abounds in sin.
Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man,
Proverbs 22:24-25 (WEB)
and don’t associate with one who harbors anger:
lest you learn his ways,
and ensnare your soul.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ Exodus 20:13 and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are with him on the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:20-26 (WEB)
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it…
Hebrews 12:14-15 (WEB)
Like one who grabs a dog’s ears
Proverbs 26:17-21 (WEB)
is one who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own.
Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,
is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”
For lack of wood a fire goes out.
Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
As coals are to hot embers,
and wood to fire,
so is a contentious man to kindling strife.
A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty,
Proverbs 19:19 (WEB)
for if you rescue him, you must do it again.
But those who are godless in heart lay up anger.
Job 36:13-14 (WEB)
They don’t cry for help when he binds them.
They die in youth.
Their life perishes among the unclean..
Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him.
Psalm 37:7-8 (WEB)
Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,
because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.
Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Attend to me, and answer me.
Psalm 55:2-3 (WEB)
I am restless in my complaint,
and moan because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they bring suffering on me.
In anger they hold a grudge against me.
There are six things which Yahweh hates;
Proverbs 6:16-19 (WEB)
yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are swift in running to mischief,
a false witness who utters lies,
and he who sows discord among brothers.
The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
Proverbs 10:11-12 (WEB)
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all wrongs.
He who hides hatred has lying lips.
Proverbs 10:18 (WEB)
He who utters a slander is a fool.
A fool shows his annoyance the same day,
Proverbs 12:16-20 (WEB).
but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.
He who is truthful testifies honestly,
but a false witness lies.
There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword,
but the tongue of the wise heals.
Truth’s lips will be established forever,
but a lying tongue is only momentary.
Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil,
but joy comes to the promoters of peace.
A wise man fears and shuns evil,
Proverbs 14:16-17 (WEB)
but the fool is hot headed and reckless.
He who is quick to become angry will commit folly,
and a crafty man is hated.
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
Proverbs 15:1-2 (WEB)
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouth of fools gush out folly.
A wrathful man stirs up contention,
Proverbs 15:18 (WEB)
but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.
A worthless man devises mischief.
Proverbs 16:27-28 (WEB)
His speech is like a scorching fire.
A perverse man stirs up strife.
A whisperer separates close friends.
One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
Proverbs 16:32 (WEB)
one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam,
Proverbs 17:14 (WEB)
therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.
He who loves disobedience loves strife.
Proverbs 17:19 (WEB)
One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.
A fool’s lips come into strife,
Proverbs 18:6-8 (WEB)
and his mouth invites beatings.
A fool’s mouth is his destruction,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels:
they go down into a person’s innermost parts.
A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city.
Proverbs 18:19-21 (WEB)
Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
A man’s stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth.
With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue;
those who love it will eat its fruit.
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger.
It is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11 (WEB)
The north wind produces rain;
Proverbs 25:23 (WEB).
so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.
A lying tongue hates those it hurts;
Proverbs 26:28 (WEB)
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Mockers stir up a city,
Proverbs 29:8-11 (WEB).
but wise men turn away anger.
If a wise man goes to court with a foolish man,
the fool rages or scoffs, and there is no peace.
The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity;
and they seek the life of the upright.
A fool vents all of his anger,
but a wise man brings himself under control.
If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself,
Proverbs 30:32-33 (WEB)
or if you have thought evil,
put your hand over your mouth.
For as the churning of milk produces butter,
and the wringing of the nose produces blood;
so the forcing of wrath produces strife.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 (WEB)
Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others. .
Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 (WEB)
Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to produce an evil odor;
Ecclesiastes 10:1-4 (WEB)
so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
but a fool’s heart at his left. Yes also when the fool walks by the way, his understanding fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool. If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don’t leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also multiplies words.
Man doesn’t know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him?
Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 (WEB)
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
Isaiah 58:3-4 (WEB)
and oppress all your laborers.
Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer.
You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’“If you take away from among you the yoke,
Isaiah 58:9-11 (WEB)
finger pointing,
and speaking wickedly;
and if you pour out your soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light will rise in darkness,
and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
and Yahweh will guide you continually,
satisfy your soul in dry places,
and make your bones strong.
You will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water
whose waters don’t fail.
For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity.
Your lips have spoken lies.
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
No one sues in righteousness,
and no one pleads in truth.
They trust in vanity,
and speak lies.
They conceive mischief,
and give birth to iniquity.
They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave the spider’s web.
He who eats of their eggs dies;
and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.Their webs won’t become garments.
Isaiah 59:3-8 (WEB)
They won’t cover themselves with their works.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet run to evil,
and they hurry to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.
Desolation and destruction are in their paths.
They don’t know the way of peace;
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made crooked paths for themselves;
whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.
Justice is turned away backward,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has fallen in the street,
and uprightness can’t enter.
Yes, truth is lacking;
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.Yahweh saw it,
Isaiah 59:14-15 (WEB).
and it displeased him that there was no justice.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
Bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one…For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:12-13a, 14-15 (WEB)
“Their throat is an open tomb.
Romans 3:13-17 (WEB) –describing everyone!
With their tongues they have used deceit.” Psalm 5:9
“The poison of vipers is under their lips.” Psalm 140:3
“Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” Psalm 10:7
“Their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and misery are in their ways.
The way of peace, they haven’t known.” Isaiah 59:7-8
Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the assembly of God; even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (WEB)
For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”Leviticus 19:18 But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.
Galatians 5:13-26 (WEB)
Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another. “Be angry, and don’t sin.”Psalm 4:4 Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, and don’t give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:25-32 (WEB).
Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.
Colossians 3:5-15 (WEB).
So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20 (WEB)
For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18 also said, “Do not commit murder.” Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:10-13 (WEB).
…but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:8-10 (WEB).
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3:13-18 (WEB).
Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James 4:1-3 (WEB).
Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?
James 4:10-12 (WEB).
He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:9-11 (WEB).
But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer. And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:4-10 (WEB).
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
1 John 4:18-21 (WEB).
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” Proverbs 11:31 Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.
1 Peter 4:14-19 (WEB).
