[Spirit100]

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:9

Recommended Reading: Ephesians 4:25-32

There’s a time and place to be angry—at the right moment and to the right degree—but our anger is often destructive, for “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20, NIV). We get angry about politics; our traffic snarls exasperate us; and daily life has its own tensions. Eruptions of anger may be understandable, but they can damage our most precious relationships.

The first way of dealing with madness this March is recognizing that the anger isn’t contained in our circumstances; it’s contained in our hearts. The circumstances—a rude caller, a bounced check, a burnt biscuit—may provoke our anger, but the real source is the underlying rage in our own spirits. Anger begins in our minds and thoughts.

The best way, then, for dealing with anger is to fill the mind with God’s Word. If you need some anger management, open your Bible and seriously search out its best verses about anger. Start with Ecclesiastes 7:9 and James 1:20, then check out Ephesians 4:25-32. Find some verses to commit to memory, and let God use His words to bring healing to your angry thoughts.

Anger is short-lived in a good man.
Thomas Fuller, Puritan