Why Am I Angry? Series

No Spin Zone: Anger

James 4

October 6, 2024

Have any of you ever gotten angry when you’re driving? Not at the back seat driver or passenger, but at the situation on the roads. You know, it’s called ROAD-RAGE!!

One website stated - - -

70% of Americans admit they will tailgate, trying to get them to go faster.

71% will use their horn to get someone to move out of the way.

77% will use an obscene gesture. Women use obscene gestures more than men.

Did you know Indiana is tied with Virginia as the 7th worst state for confrontational drivers. California is first. New York is 9th.

I read this story - - - - A 25 year-old man was sitting at a stop light at 12:40 a.m. when a woman pulled up beside him. The light turned green and both raced to get on the highway. She drove aggressively, so he drove aggressively. She yelled something at him so he waves at her without all of his fingers.

She gets angrier and pulls out a .357 gun and fires four shots into the car. One of hits his middle finger. I guarantee you, the next time this guy hits road rage, he’s not going to wave at the other person.

Isn’t it interesting how anger can take something so small as a light going from red to green and can escalate in our lives changing forever. There’s car chases, police, guns, arrests and prison. Yet it happens all the time.

It happens in families, in homes, in work relationships - - - - where anger gets in the way and gets deep into our lives. It erupts and causes all kinds of damage.

We’ve been in this series called the NO SPIN ZONE as we look at the book of James. James is opening our eyes to what it means to be a real follower, a disciple of Jesus in this world. Today, we’re looking at the fun topic of anger!

And not that I’m trying to sell books, but there are a few on the back table related to anger. You know, you may have a friend who needs to read one of those books.

Let’s get to it! In James 4:1 he asks this question - - - -

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

That’s a great question!! It’s a question, if we were really going to be honest, we don’t want to ask or even answer.

What causes these fights that go on in our lives? It’s such an important question.

Many of us have been victimized by anger! We’ve experienced it at home from our parents, or a sibling. Maybe it was a spouse or kids. It happens at work. At school, from friends, teachers or coaches.

It happens from random people we just literally bump into. Anger is all around us. The world is filled with angry people. BUT WHY?

When we’re angry it’s important to look beneath the surface to understand ‘why am I angry?’

It happens in so many different ways. You’re late and the stop light isn’t changing. You’re stuck by a train. Someone is going really slow on a 2 lane road. Someone didn’t compliment you. You’re anxious about a conversation you need to have and your fuse is short. You didn’t get the raise or promotion you hoped for. You didn’t play well in your game.

Lots of reasons, we could go on for awhile about them.

Have you ever shouted or banged the steering wheel in frustration. Thrown something across the room? Slammed something down. Punched a wall? Had a violent eruption of words spewing out of your mouth?

James gives us an answer. Verse 1 ends with - - - -

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? IS IT NOT THIS, THAT YOUR PASSIONS ARE AT WAR WITHIN YOU? - James 4:1

Let’s look a little more at this verse - - - -

The word quarrels literally means to be at war or in a battle. Which fits with the word FIGHT. So, what causes our battles and fights? His point is that we are at war within ourselves.

Isn’t that true? So often, we’re fighting this internal battle, sometimes it’s rage or it’s temptation, or it’s an addiction, or it’s a life decision. We fight between what’s good and what’s not good; or even between what’s good and what’s better.

James says, it’s your passions which are at war within you!! That’s an interesting way to describe the battle. Yet, plese understand the word for PASSIONS comes from the Greek word hedonism. It refers to our seeking pleasure as an end goal. It’s the lusting and indulging after pleasure as our main purpose.

If you think about it, most of our anger comes from the fact that we’ve been inconvenienced. We’re running late and traffic is slow. Someone tells us something we don’t want to hear, even if it’s true. We’re asked to help someone when we don’t want to. Someone breaks up with us and it hurts, which leads to our anger, but it’s ours, and doesn’t need to be put on someone else, does it?