James 1:20

NIV: for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires

The Message: God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger.

The word anger here, or wrath, is apparently from the Greek word that describes a deep internal resentment and rejection, and, in this context, means a rejection of God's word.

Have you ever noticed how angry some people get when discussing religion? In particular, how angry non Christians get at times when talking about Christianity? People get so het up, so irate, you can almost see the flames rising out of the top of their head, they are so mad! Well, maybe that anger is part and parcel of the rejection of God's word. I mean, after all, why would you get so upset about something if you didn't believe in it? Why get so angry if it is something that is ridiculous, a prop for those who aren't strong enough to cope on their own, a made up religion based on some guy who never really existed and if he did, then there is no way he could have risen from the dead….

Maybe all that anger is because they know, deep down, they are rejecting the word of God, the gift of salvation freely offered to each and every one of us and they are trying to justify their refusal. Or maybe it is because they see the relationship that others have with God, with Jesus, and because they do not have that relationship, take the path of anger in belittling Christians, making fun of them, treating their faith with contempt and, in other countries in the world, imprison and torture them, kill them.

Whatever the reasons, it seems clear that anger is from the devil and draws us away from God, not towards him. Oh, yes, there is righteous anger - remember Jesus in the Temple driving out the moneylenders (Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:12-19, Luke 19:45-48)? But how often can we say that we have a righteous anger? It is certainly not righteous when I get mad at my boys because they still have clothes all over their bedroom floor despite being asked/told several times to tidy their room. It is not righteous when I get mad at my husband because of something he has done, or something he has failed to do. And it most definitely is not righteous when I am hurt, upset or stressed out and take it out on my family by getting mad with them.

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. We, I, need to cultivate these in order to demonstrate to others the love of God. If I am wearing my spiritual armour, then I will have on my feet the shoes of the gospel of Christ, the peace that comes from the Good News. If I am carrying the peace of Christ with me, then the devil will have less chance of using human emotions and reactions to get me mad or rather, to allow myself to get me mad - after all, we all have a choice, to be angry or not, and it is up to us which option we choose. The devil doesn't make us angry, but he can put everything in our way to try and tempt us to get angry. It is up to us the final decision we make: do I let the fact that my daughter is being a stroppy little madam (no mean feat at age 20!) get me mad or do I just let it ride, accept that she has got out of bed on the wrong side and is being just plain grumpy?

It is not as easy as it perhaps sounds, there are times when things just get to me, when everything seems to go wrong and (of course) it is everyone else's fault, not mine, and I explode. But there are also times when I let the grace of God flow through me, when I am able to stay calm despite what is going on around me.

But at the end of the day, we can each choose to let our anger get the better of us, to take the option that draws us away from God, to reject the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling us to stay calm, to not get mad, or we can choose to let our lives show the fruits of the Spirit, to let love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control be evident in the things that we do, the things we say, and how we behave and react to circumstances and people around us. Because man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.