James 1:19-20

Anger is a secondary emotional response to a primary emotion. The three most common primary emotions that trigger anger are fear, pain, and frustration. Anger tells us that something is wrong and mobilizes our psychological resources to take corrective action. All of this is a natural process that in a perfect world would be a good thing, but we do not live in a perfect world.

When we hit our thumb with a hammer, we feel pain, and almost immediately experience a flash of anger. If everything was as God intended the anger would cause us to drop the hammer and rush to put our thumb in cold water. What most often happens is different; we throw the hammer and let out a curse. Too often anger does not prompt corrective action; instead, it prompts an explosive outburst.

James recognizes that in sinful man, anger no longer works as God intended. He warns us that we must learn to control our expression of anger. Because we cannot trust our instinctive expression of anger to be corrective instead of destructive, we must slow down the process. Humanity is in a fallen state and therefore human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Modern medicine confirms that suppressed anger is unhealthy, and James is not telling us to suppress our anger. He is not telling us to pretend we are not angry. He is telling us to stop, think, and choose before expressing anger. He is telling us that we must use anger as intended. Godly anger motivates us to repair relationships not destroy them. There is a difference between an anger-fueled explosion and corrective action set in motion by anger but fueled by righteousness.

If we know fits of anger are unrighteous, why do we still have them? Controlling anger is not easy; it requires great effort. The longer anger runs wild the harder it is too tame. I am a redhead, or I have always been this way, are not acceptable excuses. Either we choose to control our anger, or it will control us.