Are Good Morals Good Enough?

 

What kind of person does immoral things with impunity? Who decides what is immoral? Is there a way to know with certainty what is right and wrong in life?

There it was in my inbox for the second time in a week: “I am … an aging widow suffering from cancer. I have some funds I am willing to donate through you to non-profit charitable organization amounting £8.3 Million pounds. … 50% of the total sum should be transferred to any orphanage home. You can help your community with the remaining 50% and for your services to carry out this last wish for me.”

What kind of person does immoral things without guilt?

As I hit the delete button, I wondered what kind of person would fall for such a scam. The numbers must be small, but evidently there are a few who are fooled. The criminals behind the scams then steal their savings and leave some innocent and often elderly people destitute. 

And what kind of person is able to lie, cheat and steal with such impunity? How do such people live with themselves? Most people would be wracked with guilt if they committed a crime like this.

Our decisions about what is right and wrong in life

How do you make decisions about right and wrong in your life? Philosophers often proclaim that truth is relative and there are no moral absolutes, so how can we know if the choices we make are right or wrong? How do we know we’re any better than the criminals trying to dupe the unsuspecting and naïve with bogus schemes?

As we become adults and acquire the power to make bigger and more significant decisions, each of us is faced with the challenge of determining what standards will shape those decisions. Judgments must always be based upon some standard, so what standards will guide us as we make the decisions that affect our lives and our relationships?

For a lot of people today, those moral standards are founded upon human reason alone. If human reason is the highest source of knowledge available, then human concepts of morality should be supreme.

The weakness of moral reasoning

But experience shows us that humans don’t all reason in the same way. What one person values can be very different from what another person values. The supporters of the ISIS-led insurgency in the Middle East believed it is moral to torture and brutally murder those who oppose their goals, while the rest of the world was repulsed by their savagery. 

If terrorists consider themselves morally upright while the rest of civilization considers them immoral in the extreme, isn’t it obvious that human assessments of morality are inherently inadequate? 

But, wait! I’m human too. Does that mean my assessments of morality may also be inadequate?

What’s missing in understanding what is immoral?

Everyone sees the importance of good morals, but there is a vital concept missing. Without it humans stumble about in spiritual darkness, bruised and battered by spiritual realities they cannot perceive.

The missing concept is embodied in one simple, three-letter word—sin. Some think sin is an antiquated concept with little relevance for the modern world.

Unlike moral relativism, sin is not determined by human reason or by the fluctuations of human society. Sin is determined by an eternal God whose standards transcend the barriers of time and place. What He defined as sin yesterday is still sin today and will be sin tomorrow, and no one will ever be exempt from His standards. 

And there is one more aspect of sin that sets it apart from morals. There is a death penalty for committing sin (Romans 6:23), and no one will ever be exempt from that either. 

The good news is that the God who defines sin also “desires all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).

How can we know what is right and wrong in life?

“But,” some will say, “different people worship different gods, and those gods have different standards. How can we know which one is right?” Believe it or not, the true God thought that was a fair question, and He didn’t leave us in the dark with no answer.

God claims that He has the right to tell you and me how we should live our lives and what our moral standards should be. 

But I have a mind and the ability to reason. What right does He have to tell me what I should and should not do?

God gives His credentials

When giving a formal presentation, a speaker often begins by telling the audience why they should listen. 

Have you ever considered the beginning of the Bible from that perspective? Many look at Genesis 1 hoping to find scientific or historical evidence of the beginnings of our world. Some of that information is there, but there’s more.

Are we overlooking God’s enduring introduction of Himself and His credentials in this passage? Consider in summary what is actually shown.

When we are introduced to the scene, God commanded and stars and planets and light came into existence. Then in verse 3 He simply said, “Let there be light,” and this amazing form of energy that scientists still struggle to understand drove out the darkness that had enshrouded everything an instant before.

As the account moves forward, this great being took inert matter and gave it life and the ability to reproduce consistently according to unique patterns, and plant life grew. He next used more inert matter and created animals with brains and instinct and all of their wonderful and intricate behaviors. 

And then He brought into existence human beings and gifted them with the unique ability to think and reason and make moral choices. And He made it clear that these beings—both male and female—were made like Him—in His image and likeness as no other creatures were.

And as a final act in that creative week, He set apart and blessed a unique period of time in the weekly cycle so that it would be different from regular time.

God laid all of this evidence before His audience and proclaimed that everything He had created was “very good.” Anyone examining this evidence would properly be in awe of a being who is capable of these things. Man is clearly incapable of any of these feats. 

Human moral choices

After establishing His right to instruct them, God revealed good and evil, right and wrong to the first man and woman. Sadly, they chose to give more value to their own human reasoning (buying into Satan’s worldview) than to God’s revealed knowledge, and the results were tragic.

They undoubtedly felt justified in making the moral choices they made. But by God’s definition, they were sinful, and the history that followed showed that God was right and they were wrong.

Even so, biblical history shows that mankind still doubted God’s authority to determine right and wrong. Perhaps one of the more famous accounts occurred when God sent two elderly men—Moses and Aaron—to give His message to one of the most powerful men on earth—the Pharaoh of Egypt (Exodus 5:1). 

They had to understand that it is God, and not man, who establishes right and wrong—who determines what is sin and what is not.

Many Egyptians considered the pharaohs to be divine, and history tells us that the ancient Egyptians worshipped hundreds of gods. But Israel’s God was not among their pantheon. The ancient world believed there were countless gods and goddesses who ruled over different places, peoples and powers. 

This ancient ruler probably considered Israel’s God to be weak and powerless since He was unable to deliver the Israelites from their Egyptian overlords.

Questioning God

In essence, Pharaoh’s prideful response to God’s message was, Who is this God of the Hebrew slaves that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I don’t even know who this God of yours is! (See Exodus 5:2.) 

In a short time this ruler and his mighty nation crumbled into chaos, and all the gods they worshipped were shown to be powerless before this God of the Hebrew slaves (Exodus 12:12). No longer did anyone wonder who this God was and why He should be obeyed.

Though Pharaoh had given voice to the question, he wasn’t the only one who needed to know the answer. The Israelites themselves needed to know who this God was who had brought them out of slavery and was leading them to the land promised over four centuries earlier to their ancestor Abraham. 

Before these freed slaves could enter the Promised Land, they had to understand that it is God, and not man, who establishes right and wrong—who determines what is sin and what is not.

At the foot of Mount Sinai

As they stood, trembling in awe at the foot of the mountain, God began by telling them why they should obey His voice: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). 

He then laid before them the 10 Commandments, 10 timeless principles defining good and evil—principles that for all time transcend any human ideas of morality. 

Just before they were ready to enter that Promised Land, He instructed Moses to remind them that these principles were not arbitrary regulations; they were given in love for the good of those who would treasure them as the most important values in life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

The problem of sin and its solution

Like those Israelites of old, many of us have overlooked, ignored and neglected these eternal principles. In doing so, we have brought suffering and heartache upon ourselves and our loved ones, as well as a death penalty upon ourselves.

But God doesn’t want to see His children die (Ezekiel 33:11), so He offers us a way for the penalty to be paid so we can set our lives on the right course. 

That course—a course that leads to forgiveness, joy and ultimately salvation—is revealed in an annual series of sacred observances, beginning with the same Passover that Jesus Himself observed. 

Asking why we should allow this God to establish the morals, ethics and values by which we live our lives today—and to give us the vital information about sin—is perfectly reasonable. Ignoring or setting aside His unmistakable answer is not. 

Still the most important decision

Deciding who will establish the standards by which we will shape our lives is still the most important decision we will ever make, and it’s not a decision we can delay or ignore. Being a moral person is a noble goal, but without the knowledge of God, it will never be enough. 

Though the arrogance of Pharaoh cost him dearly, it’s still important that each of us humbly ask the same question: Who is this God that I should obey Him?

When you know the answer, you’ll want to know more about what He wants you to do. These biblically based booklets can help:

• God’s 10 Commandments: Still Relevant Today.
• Change Your Life!

Are the Penalties for Sins Passed Down?

 

Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Are penalties passed down?

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (This story is found in John 9:1-3.) In this example neither the parents nor the son had sinned to bring on the blindness. But if a parent does sin, can sin itself be passed down?

Sin, which is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4), does not get passed to the next generation. In this case Christ said that the man wasn’t blind because of sin (his own or his parents’), but because it was a way for the works of God to be revealed in him. It was a way for a miracle to be performed to show where God was working.

But can the effects of sin be passed down?

Notice what God said when giving His law (specifically about idols): “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity [sins] of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:5).

Does this mean that the sins of parents can affect their descendants?

The answer is clearly yes. Explaining this point, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible defines “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children” in this way: “Sons and remote descendants inherit the consequences of their fathers’ sins, in disease, poverty, captivity, with all the influences of bad example and evil communications.”

Oftentimes because of upbringing, children will follow in the footsteps of their parents in bad habits and sins. In such cases the pattern of sin becomes repetitive, and the effects of sin continue.

Are there different penalties for sin?

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). There is one absolute penalty for sin—death! No one is exempt, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But sin often also carries physical penalties and consequences.

Let’s look at a modern-day example: If a parent struggles with controlling anger and violent tendencies, then it is not only he or she who suffers, but other individuals around him or her, including the children. Children often see and mimic this habit and can eventually become angry and abusive themselves or choose to marry someone who is abusive.

Chronic anger has been shown to have a connection to heart disease and a variety of other health problems; and abuse, of course, can cause severe physical injuries. A person may go to God in heartfelt repentance, and ask Him for forgiveness, but oftentimes the physical consequences of the sin will remain. The physical, mental and emotional effects that anger and abuse have on future generations may take a long time to heal as well.

Sin carries consequences

Notice what happened to some of the descendants of ancient Israel because of the sins of the fathers: “We have given our hand to the Egyptians and the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:6-7, emphasis added throughout). The descendants went into captivity because of the nation’s continuing pattern of sin.

Here we have the children suffering for the sins of their forefathers that brought the nation into 70 years of captivity. Some children were small when taken captive and others were born in captivity. These children suffered along with their parents. God had warned Israel that they and their children would suffer if they turned away from Him (see Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28). But soon the captivity would end, and God inspired Ezekiel to prophesy of a time when the children would no longer suffer for the sins of their fathers (Ezekiel 18:1-4).

God is always merciful. “And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away. But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me … then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham” (Leviticus 26:39-40, 42).

What happens if a person chooses not to follow his or her parents’ paths?

Speaking of God, the book of Jeremiah states, “You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 32:19).

Since each of us will have to account for our choices, what kind of life will we choose to live?Every person will at some point give account for his or her personal sins. “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Since each of us will have to account for our choices, what kind of life will we choose to live?

Change is a choice!

Notice God’s perspective again in Leviticus: “If their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant” (Leviticus 26:41-42).

God is merciful and can grant forgiveness when a person confesses his or her sins to Him and comes to Him in repentance (1 John 1:9; 2 Timothy 2:25). The wages of sin—eternal death—can be removed, and many times the consequences of sin can also be alleviated. God can begin to reward those who diligently seek and follow Him, just as He said He would remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Romans 3:23; Hebrews 11:6). See more about this in the articles under “Sin” in the “Change” category.

It is God’s desire that we repent of sin

We understand more about the process of God’s forgiveness and His desire for our change when we read 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God is patient and can lead us to repentance. His desire is that we repent and change, not only for ourselves, but because the consequences of sin are often passed on to our children, our grandchildren and, in some cases, even to our great-grandchildren.

Each person has the choice to change the generational way of life

In Ezekiel 18 God shows that we receive punishment for our own sins—and we can change. A son who sees his father’s sins and “does not do likewise … shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live!” (verses 14, 17).

“As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother by violence, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live” (verses 18-22).

Sin has a way of leading to more sin (Romans 6:19). The ultimate penalty of sin is death. There are also other consequences of sin that can continue on until sin has been acknowledged, stopped, repented of and replaced by righteous, godly conduct.

We are told that what a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7). If we are reaping the consequences of sin, we can change what we are doing and walk in a newness of life. That can happen through the process of repentance and baptism and by the help of God’s Holy Spirit (Romans 6:4; Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:24-25).

There is a way to break the yoke of sin!

Notice 1 John 2:1-3: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

Christ is the propitiation or “atoning” for our sins. He was willing to die to pay the penalty for our sins when we repent. But, along with repentance of sin, obedience to God’s law is also required.

When we overcome the “habit” of sin, it can change our lives and also have a positive effect on the lives of our children and grandchildren.

We also have the responsibility to teach our children God’s beneficial laws and the right way to live: “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren” (Deuteronomy 4:9).

Each person must decide

Generations of obedience to God can begin with you! The Bible gives examples of those who followed the right paths, even though their parents were sinners.

One example is Josiah. His father, Amon, had disobeyed God. However, “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Kings 22:1-2).

This article began with Exodus 20:5: “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Notice also that God continued speaking in verse 6: “But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

The passing down of the effects of sin from generation to generation can stop with you. God has made a clear path for us to follow. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The determination to follow that path can lead you and your future generations out of sin.

Notice the encouragement King David wrote in Psalm 103:17-18: “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them.”

You can change your life—and benefit the lives of your children who will live after you! God leads us to a way of life that can provide blessings for us now, and for our children and future generations.

What kind of legacy will you leave for your children and grandchildren?

Read more about how to make these changes by downloading our booklet Change Your Life.

A Biblical Look at Anger Management

 

Even the great heroes of the Bible occasionally lost their tempers and dealt with anger issues. What can we learn from their examples and from scriptures on anger?

When was the last time you lost your temper? What made you abandon self-control and fly into a rage? What did you say that you later wished you had not?

In the heat of anger any of us can say and do things irrationally that we may forever regret and for which we may pay severe penalties.

The solution is prevention—avoiding such outbursts of uncontrolled emotion.

Looking into the personalities of a few biblical notables who allowed anger to boil over at times can give us insights into the temptations that can become temper traps, as well as ideas for better anger management.

Moses: meek and mad?

Most of us picture the great people of the Bible as quiet, contemplative characters of near absolute perfection. After all, don’t we read that Moses was a man of a mild temper?

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). In the King James Version it says Moses was “meek,” meaning mild-tempered, submissive and yielding.

But was this always the case for Moses?

We read something quite different about Moses in his younger life (Exodus 2:11-12). In this incident, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave and then hid the Egyptian’s body in the sand. Humble? Meek? Mild-tempered? Not in this case.

Later, Moses tried to get God to relent from what He was considering doing to the Israelites because of their repeated sins. God told Moses He would destroy the Israelites and make of Moses a great nation. Here, because of Moses’ humble intercession, God relented from destroying the people (Exodus 32:7-14).

But right after this, we find Moses losing his temper and breaking the tablets on which God had written the 10 Commandments.

Now perhaps being angry at such blatant sin as worshipping a golden calf, claiming it was the god who brought them forth from Egypt, is totally understandable. (It is possible to “be angry and … not sin,” as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:26. Even God has righteous anger.) Be that as it may, for Moses to smash God’s tablets was a rash act that, undoubtedly, he deeply regretted later (Exodus 32:15-20).

The fact that Moses himself had to hew two more tables of stone just like the ones he broke and then carry them back up Mount Sinai indicates that perhaps God wanted to impress a temper-control lesson upon Moses (Exodus 34:1-4).

The temper trap that kept Moses out of the Promised Land

On another occasion the people complained again about the need for water. Moses impatiently lashed out at them (Numbers 20:1-12).

Notice, too, that Moses said, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (verse 10). He was not giving God the credit and the glory.

God had given him instructions of exactly what to do (verses 7-8). God had told Moses to “speak” to the rock, but what did Moses actually do?

Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck it twice. In his anger he failed to follow God’s commands (verses 9-11). Did God overlook this?

No.

God then told Moses and Aaron that they would not enter the Promised Land because they had failed to respect Him and follow His commands (verse 12).

God even had Moses’ rash actions recorded again in the Psalms (Psalm 106:32-33).

God knew that the leader of His people had to exercise self-control and avoid “flying off the handle” and making irrational decisions in the heat of anger. So to emphasize His point, He disciplined Moses.

Granted, the Israelites were a griping, grumbling, emotionally motivated people. But God simply could not afford to allow Moses to react as he did. He knew that uncontrolled anger leads to erratic and irresponsible behavior.

Moses repented and learned his lesson. He is a great hero of faith who will play an important role in the Kingdom of God (Hebrews 11:23-29; Mark 9:1-4). Yet he still had to face the consequences and was unable to enter the Promised Land that he had looked forward to for so long.

His lesson is recorded for us to help us see the seriousness of learning how to control our anger.

Anger and the Sons of Thunder

Another example of biblical characters who were not able to control their temper at times is James and John. The Bible calls them Boanerges, meaning, “Sons of Thunder.” Apparently they had the proclivity to “blow their stacks” on occasion. This was the name Jesus gave them when He was choosing His 12 apostles (Mark 3:17).

Perhaps the following example will help explain why Christ gave them this name. It’s found in Luke 9:51-56.

Jesus, James and John were traveling through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. When they attempted to find accommodations for the night, they were met with opposition as a result of the prejudice between Jews and Samaritans. James and John’s response to the Samaritans revealed an anger that could properly be called thunderous. They said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” (verse 54).

Jesus responded, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (verses 55-56).

It makes one wonder if there were not other times that James and John lived up to their nickname.

James and John were two of Jesus’ closest friends, and seeing His example and striving to live more like Him changed them. They repented, and on the Day of Pentecost they received the Holy Spirit. Allowing God’s Spirit to lead them helped them overcome their anger and have a different approach.

John became the apostle who later in life, when writing 1, 2 and 3 John, wrote a lot about love. When he was first chosen to be one of Christ’s apostles, he was one of the “Sons of Thunder,” but after walking with Christ for several years, this “Son of Thunder” became an apostle of love.

Peter’s temper

Peter was another example of a man susceptible to instant fury. He sliced off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant, during the arrest of Christ.

Jesus immediately corrected him and healed the servant (John 18:10-11).

Peter was either a very accurate marksman with his sword—being able to hit such a small target as an ear—or a rather poor shot. I wonder if Peter was perhaps aiming squarely between the man’s ears—which would have made all the difference to Malchus! Or maybe Peter was trying to take his head off, and Malchus ducked to the left and lost his right ear. We just don’t know; the Bible doesn’t say.

What we do know is that Peter finally learned his lesson. In the end, he did much better.

Study 1 Peter 2:18-23 and 3:8-12, and you’ll find a Peter much different from the one we read about earlier. He pointed to the self-sacrificing attitude of his mentor and ours, Jesus Christ:

“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Jonah’s anger at God

Yet another example of someone with anger issues is Jonah.

God had sent Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh—his people’s mortal enemies—that God was going to destroy them for their sins.

But when God accepted Nineveh’s pleas and spared them, Jonah lost his temper and got mad at God. How could God go back on the prophecy He had forced Jonah to give? How could God spare Israel’s brutal enemies?

The Bible doesn’t tell us the rest of the story. Did Jonah repent? We don’t know the end of the story, but we can hope Jonah did repent and change, overcoming his anger through seeing things from God’s perspective with God’s compassion (Jonah 4:1-9).

Benefits of controlling our tempers

Many doctors and psychologists agree that emotions often directly affect and cause physical symptoms. Negative emotions such as stress, anger or resentment can cause a multitude of ills, from tension headaches to digestive difficulties. Trouble in swallowing, gastric ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, backaches, high blood pressure, hives, colds and even asthma have at times been connected with seething emotions.

A relaxed attitude, free of constant or chronic resentment, dissatisfaction or anger, makes for a longer, healthier life.

One advantage of controlling our anger is mentioned in Proverbs 14:29: “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.” Said another way, he who loses his temper lacks understanding.

Have you ever made a decision in the heat of anger? If you have, chances are you were sorry later.

I heard the story of a man whose car would not start in a downtown parking lot. After an hour of trying to start it, he was “madder than a wet hen.” He was on the verge of trading the car in for a different one that very day. Fortunately, after getting the car started, he cooled off and decided to keep the car. It was in fine mechanical condition—it needed only a minor adjustment, and the problem was solved. He could have traded in a perfectly good car for another one that might have given him far more trouble than the original one. And, of course, he would have had to pay additional money for the new car.

It is easy to make a foolish decision without calmly weighing all the facts. Controlling your temper will result in making wiser decisions—which will result in a smoother, more organized and prosperous life for you and those around you.

Some more anger management tips from Proverbs

Consider some more wise advice about how to manage anger from the Bible.

“The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression” (Proverbs 19:11).

In other words, a wise man restrains his anger and overlooks insults. This is to his credit.

There are two points to consider here.

1. A wise man will have more friends and fewer enemies because he does not antagonize others. He will generally be well-liked—and that’s important. How can you help others, either directly or by your example, if they do not respect and like you?
2. Also, a wise man does not let others rule his emotions. He does not automatically react with contempt or anger toward someone who insults him. He is not at the mercy of another person’s rude remarks. He is big enough to disregard them, step aside, ignore and forgive the person for being rude and unwise.

But a foolish person is always vulnerable. He is often like a gun with a hair trigger—always ready to discharge with just a little pressure. Don’t be a slave to your emotions.

“An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression” (Proverbs 29:22).

A hot-tempered man starts fights and gets into all kinds of trouble. Enemies, bad feelings, strife and lack of cooperation are this man’s lot in life. He lacks peace of mind and often agitates others. He lives from one hassle to the next.

His family life is destroyed by this same attitude and behavior.

“He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart” (Proverbs 11:29).

Said another way, the fool who provokes his family to anger and resentment will finally have nothing worthwhile left. He will be the servant of a wiser man. So the family atmosphere often turns into a scarred battleground. That’s a ridiculously high price to pay for a lack of self-control.

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

A hot-tempered person who loses control of his emotions will often disclose things he should not, exaggerate things that are not true and reveal to everyone that he is operating on nervous emotional energy—not logical reason.

Self-control also involves controlling the tongue.

“He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction” (Proverbs 13:3).

A quick, angry retort can ruin everything. Be sure your mind is in gear before engaging your mouth.

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

“A soft answer” means a sensible answer. But if you answer with inflammatory words, the other person’s anger—and your own—will flare up hotter and hotter.

Read more about how important it is to control our words in James 3:2-10 and the article “Words That Hurt, Words That Help.”

And study Paul’s instructions for living peacefully in Romans 12:17-21 and our article “The Way of Peace.”

Guarding against hotheadedness

It is challenging to control our anger in this age that is noted for its rage and anger. The apostle Paul prophesied of today’s prevalent lack of self-control when writing to Timothy:

“You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them and thoroughly bad. … They will … sneer at those who try to be good. … They will be hotheaded” (2 Timothy 3:1-4, Living Bible).

Hotheaded means to have an impetuous or quick-tempered nature. We must guard against this.

So let’s ask God to help us more than ever to control our tempers, and we’ll reap the peaceful benefits doing so will bring.

For more help with anger management, see these helpful biblical resources:

• “What Does the Bible Say About Anger?”
• “A Foothold for the Devil.”
• “Overcoming Anger.”
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