"The Insight of a Man Certainly Slows Down His Anger"

A college basketball coach is fired because of his uncontrolled anger. 

A child throws a temper tantrum for not getting his way.

A mother gets into a shouting match with her son because of his messy room.

ALL of us have seen people get angry, and no doubt we ourselves  have become irate at one time or another. While we may view anger as a negative emotion that should be suppressed, we often feel that we have a valid reason to be upset, especially when someone appears  to overstep our sense of justice. An article by the American Psychological Association even suggest that "anger is a completely normal, usually healthy human emotion." 

Such a view may seem plausible when we consider what the Christian apostle Paul wrote under divine inspiration. Acknowledging that there may be times when people become angry, he said:  "Be wrathful, but do not sin; do not let the sun set  while you are still angry." (Ephesians 4:26) In view of this, should we vent our anger, or should we do what we can to control it?" 

SHOULD YOU GET ANGRY? 

When Paul gave that counsel about anger, he apparently had in mind the word of the psalmist who wrote:  "Be agitated, but do not sin." (Psalm 4:4) What, though, was the intent of Paul's inspired admonition? He went on to explain:  "Put away from yourselves every kind of malicious  bitterness, anger, wrath, screaming, and abusive speech, as well as everything injurious." (Ephesians 4:31)   Paul was in fact encouraging Christians to avoid giving vent to anger. Interestingly, the American Psychological Association article goes on to say:  "Research  has found that 'letting it rip' with anger actually escalates anger and aggression  and does nothing to help you . . .resolve the situation."

How, then, can we "put away"anger and all its bad effects?  Wise King Solomon of ancient Israel wrote:  "The insight of a man certainly slows down his anger and it is beauty on his part to overlook an offense."  (Proverbs 19:11) How does  "the insight of a man" help when rage wells up within him?  

Next time: HOW INSIGHT SLOWS DOWN ANGER

From the Watchtower magazine, 2014