Overcoming Anger

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN, BROWNSVILLE, TX

ILL. The story is told that in the latter 1800’s, Alfred Lord Tennyson invited a Russian nobleman to his estate. And early one morning this nobleman took off with dogs & guns & servants to go hunting.

At mid-day he returned & Lord Tennyson asked him how he did. He answered, "Not very well. I shot two peasants." Lord Tennyson thought for a moment & then said, “No, we pronounce it with a ‘ph’ here. It is ‘pheasants.’ You shot two pheasants."

"No," the nobleman replied, "I shot two peasants. They were insolent towards me, so I shot them."

ILL. Now we smile in disbelief at a story like that. But last year a driver in Philadelphia shot another driver on the highway. There was a construction blockage on the road, narrowing traffic down to only one lane, creating long backups as cars from each direction took turns getting past the blockage.

Well, this driver patiently waited his turn. But just as he was about to get past the blockage, a car came up fast on the shoulder, passing all the waiting cars, & crowded just in front of him. Then after doing that, the driver turned around with a smirk on his face & made an obscene gesture.

Well, that infuriated the first driver. So when traffic was stopped at the next construction bottleneck, he got out of his car, took out his gun & shot the man in front of him to death.

That happened in Philadelphia. But stories like that have popped up all over the country.

A. Now, of course, we wouldn’t do anything like that. But have you ever lost your temper? Do you ever do things you wish you hadn’t done, or say things you wish you had never said?

Well, the Bible has something to say about overcoming anger. Proverbs 19:11 says, "A man’s wisdom gives him patience. It is to his glory to overlook an offense."

Now there is the secret, isn’t it? If someone offends you, & if you are a man of wisdom (God’s wisdom) then you can overlook it, & not allow the situation to become a major event that overwhelms you.

B. As I studied the Bible this week about the subject of anger, I discovered that there are 4 types of anger dealt with in the Bible.

First of all, there is sudden anger. The Bible says that sudden anger is to be controlled.

Secondly, there is sinful anger. The Bible says that sinful anger is to be condemned.

Thirdly, there is stubborn anger. Stubborn anger is to be conquered.

Finally, there is sanctified anger. And sanctified anger is to be channeled.

PROP. So this morning, let’s look at each of those 4 types of anger.

I. SUDDEN ANGER IS TO BE CONTROLLED

A. First of all there is sudden anger, & the Bible says that sudden anger is to be controlled.

1. Proverbs 14:17 says, "A quick-tempered man does foolish things." We already knew that because we’ve experienced that in our own lives. We may blame our quick temper on our red hair. Or we may blame it on our heritage. After all, we’re Irish or something like that. We may even be proud of it.

But the bottom line is, if we have a short fuse, we’re going to do a lot of foolish things. When we lose our temper we’ll say things we know we shouldn’t have said, & do things that we’re going to be sorry for later on.

2. Next, Proverbs 15:18 says, "A hot tempered man stirs up dissension." That simply means that if you have a short fuse, if you’re always losing your temper, if you’re walking around with a chip on your shoulder, if you’re just looking for somebody to say something that will irritate you, then you’re going to leave a trail of hurt feelings & unhappiness behind you.

ILL. Will Rogers said, "Whenever you fly into a rage, you seldom make a safe landing." And he is right.

ILL. Chuck Swindoll said, "I got so angry that I gave him a piece of my mind. And it was a piece that I couldn’t afford to lose."

The writer of Proverbs said, "A hot temper stirs up dissension."

3. Proverbs 18:13 says, "He who answers before listening - that is his folly & his shame." He is talking about jumping to conclusions. We hear just a little bit of what is said, & we instantly jump to a conclusion, & oftentimes it is the wrong conclusion.

ILL. Have you heard about the dog named "August" who was always trying to chase a mule named "Conclusion?" One day he jumped at Conclusion & bit him, & Conclusion kicked back at August. And that was the last day of August. Think about that for a moment.