Anger is an emotion that we all deal with. If we don’t learn to control our temper, anger can cause unimaginable hurt to people around us. Words said in anger leave deep scars in the one you direct your words toward.

“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9).

Stop and think before you act and you will see that the person you are angry with is just another human who more than likely had no intention to make you mad. The news is full of stories about people whose anger is out of control and in their rage they murder someone. Road rage is prime example of uncontrolled anger that quite often results in violence. Nothing justifies unbridled anger and Christians need to learn to control it.

Have you ever lived with a toddler going through the terrible twos? These little ones get frustrated when things don’t go their way and temper tantrums are all too frequent. They need to be taught to control their anger. Adults who continually get mad have never grown past the terrible twos and need to learn to control their anger rather than allowing it to take control. Anger can flare up if someone takes your parking spot or hurts your pride.

Do you get mad at a parent or grandparent for sharing the wisdom they’ve gained in life? If you listen you might learn something. Anger is a selfish emotion that’s mostly about “me”:

“You hurt me” or “You didn’t treat me the way I wanted you to” or “You didn’t let me have my way.” Me, me, me. You cannot control the way another person acts or what they say, but you can learn to control yourself.

“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger”(Proverbs 15:1).

Measure your words with kindness and you might be surprised how others react. Most people don’t set out to make you angry and accidentally say or do something that offends you. Overlook these things.

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression” (Proverbs 19:11).

If you are a Christian God has forgiven your transgressions, so what right do you have to not forgive another person?

A major cause of anger in Christians is being out of fellowship with God. That’s a bad place to be. The world dictates a certain way of dress, ungodly morals, and filthy language; but the way of the world is opposed to God’s ways. If you claim to be a Christian but don’t follow God in all you do, then your flesh is at war with the Holy Spirit. When you try to please the world you cannot please God and that’s when anger is ignited.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:29-30).

When you truly accept Christ’s sacrifice as the atonement for your sins the Holy Spirit is sealed inside of you. He will lead you in God’s ways and help you to make choices that honor God. If you ignore His guidance and follow the ways of the world you are in direct conflict with God. The turmoil that boils inside of you creates anger. Foolish pride will get in the way of you honoring God and you will grieve the Holy Spirit.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up”(James 4:10).

God shows you grace and mercy when you fall short of His perfection. Pass His love on to others.

Should you stay away from people in order to avoid anger? Nobody should live completely isolated from others. In fact, God doesn’t want us to hide ourselves away. If we don’t have contact with other people, how can we share the gospel? Spiritual strength is developed when we choose to honor God in all we do. Part of that strength comes from studying our Bible in order to know His ways, and part of that strength comes from applying His word to our daily living.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

When a Christian chooses to conform to worldly ways their walk with God is weakened and they grieve the Holy Spirit. Repent and turn back to God and you will find that you aren’t so angry anymore. God can use us to calm situations, or we can allow Satan to use us to cause conflict and strife.

“A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Proverbs 15:18).

Many situations will come up in the workplace or at school in which we can be a peacemaker or we can make the situation worse by our attitude. Is someone spreading rumors about you?

Instead of being angry, honestly and prayerfully examine yourself to be sure that there’s no foundation for the rumors.

If there is, correct the problem with God’s help. If there is no basis for the rumor, it will only make things worse if you get angry. You can only control your own actions. A Christian should never stir strife or spread gossip about others but should show God’s love to others.

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).

Pray about situations that are causing you to be bitter. Seek God’s direction. Maybe it’s you that needs to change. God will show you how to make the situation better if you pray and turn it over to Him. Anger will not solve anything. Are you living deep in sin but trying to hide it? Your secrets probably aren’t so secret and trying to hide them will only make you bitter.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” ( Proverbs 28:13).

By choosing to practice sin you remove yourself from the blessings God has for you. You may think you can hide your sins from people around you, but you can’t hide them from God. Acknowledge your sin, confess it to God, and ask Him to forgive you…then stop that sin. Do you secretly look at pornography, listen to music that is satanic, or watch movies and television that promote sin? If you don’t honor God then you honor Satan.

As stated before, the Holy Spirit lives inside every true Christian and He is grieved when we are out of fellowship. Get right with God and make His ways your ways. You will find that the closer you walk with God, the more peace you will have.

Anger has no place within a marriage and can result in violence. Spousal abuse is inexcusable. Whether it be physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, it’s disobedience to God.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord…Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:22, 25).

Wives are to be submissive, but husbands are not to beat them into submission. Today there are many things that get in the way of a God-honoring marriage and these things can cause tension and anger between a husband and wife. Study God’s word to learn what a husband’s role and a wife’s role in a God honoring marriage is. Anger has no place there.

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath”(Ephesians 4:26).

Control your anger, love your spouse, honor God.

If someone wrongs you, it isn’t up to you to get revenge. It is God who we should trust to avenge our troubles. It’s God’s desire that everyone comes to salvation and if people around you know you are a Christian but you’re always vengeful and angry, does that show God’s love? Will your bitter attitude draw a lost sinner to Christ? It would be so much better if you would set your pride aside and show mercy. Let God fight your battles because He sees the bigger picture.

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:1).

Let God work His love in others, but allow yourself to be His instrument.

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21).

Learn to forgive others as you have been forgiven. Bitterness will also result in anger, especially if that bitterness is toward God. Are you mad at Him? We humans tend to want to blame someone else for our problems, and God gets blamed for our disappointments and failures. Has someone you loved died? Do you think God should have made you rich? Are all of your friends married but you aren’t?

God is not to blame for any failure or disappointment in life and none of these things should result in anger toward Him. Was your loved one a Christian? Even though you miss your special someone, rejoice that he or she is now in the presence of Jesus! Riches? God never promised anyone riches, but He will fulfill every need. You’re not married? Maybe you need to ready yourself to be a godly husband or wife, or maybe God is using you in other ways right now.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

God loves you. He wants the best for you, but you need to submit to His will. Evil comes from Satan who only wants you to be bitter toward God.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Satan wants Christians everywhere to be angry with God and with people around us. He can’t steal our salvation, but he can cause us to be poor witnesses for Christ. No matter what disappointments we have in life, as Christians, we have the joy of salvation. That should override every angry thought, bitterness and hostility within you. God loves you. God gave His life for you. The Creator of the universe loved you enough to be the once for all sacrifice for your sin. How can you be angry?

If you’re a Christian and anger controls you, pray for God’s help.

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

We’ve all heard the advice to count to ten before getting angry. How many times have I raced through those numbers and then let my anger flow? Too many to count. Here’s a better idea. Slow down. Memorize ten Scriptures and when you get mad recite them to yourself. There are at least ten in this commentary that will help. How about?:

“ Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:17-18).

Good advice from the apostle Paul, who learned to control his anger by submitting to the will of God. Another verse to learn is this one:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

Love is of God, not anger. If you don’t love others then you don’t know God. God will help you overcome conflicts within you and conflicts you have with others. He has forgiven you of your sins, learn to forgive others. Submit to Him and allow His love to reign over your life.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

We live in a wonderful time period. We live in the age of grace. Sin is still sin, but if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, your sins are forgiven. Past sin, present sin, and future sin.
“For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

Christians have been eternally sanctified, but that doesn’t mean we’re free to continue living a sin-filled life.

When we stumble we need to go to Jesus and confess our sins and He will forgive us. This confession isn’t because our salvation has been lost, but because we need to acknowledge our sin and seek God’s help to move away from it. Salvation comes only through the shed blood of Jesus and there is nothing we can do to add to our salvation or detract from it.

Why, then, do people try to complicate salvation by adding religion? Religion is works, and works won’t save anyone. Religion is what people do to try to be good enough for God. We can’t do anything on our own to be good enough.

Salvation isn’t complicated. God made it simple because He loves us with a pure love and wants us to spend eternity with Him. One evening a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus to try to understand who Jesus was. Most Pharisees wanted Jesus out of the way, but Nicodemus wanted understanding.

Jesus explained the gospel by saying:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Pharisees were familiar with works, such as animal sacrifices, keeping the Law, and performing daily rituals, so Nicodemus was confused with the fact that belief in Jesus was all that was necessary for salvation.

People today also think there are works to do in order to prove our worthiness to God. Jesus only gave one direction for salvation: believe. He loves each and every human being on this planet and His love is pure and unconditional. Jesus continued His conversation with Nicodemus:

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:17-18).

There is no “and” in Jesus’ words (“and be baptized” or “and say a prayer”). Just believe and gain eternal life or don’t believe and condemn yourself .

God provided the only way for all people to receive everlasting life. He made it simple for us because He knew how stubborn people can be. The ritual sacrifice of animals was ordained under the Law of Moses, but those sacrifices were only a temporary covering.

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).

Only God’s blood can permanently remove sin from our life. When Jesus went to the cross, He shed His blood as the once for all sacrifice to take our sin away.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).

The war is over; Satan lost and God won. This victory means that sin no longer is the barrier to salvation. Belief in the finished work of Jesus at the cross is the only way for mankind to live eternally in heaven. There’s still a spiritual fight taking place, but Satan can no longer come between believers and God.

Sincere belief in this truth is all it takes to establish ourselves as a child of God. Jesus said so. His perfect plan of salvation isn’t complicated and it’s accessible to everyone. Faith in Jesus is the ONLY way of salvation. Works should result from our faith, but they are not the source of our salvation.

“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

Once you have accepted the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for your redemption, then you need to grow. If you don’t have a Bible, get one and read it. It will guide you to a deeper faith and understanding of our Lord. It will show you things in your life that you need to change.

Baptism is works, but it is an important part of obedience. It’s an outward sign of your inward faith. There are some who wrongly teach that you are not saved if you haven’t been baptized. I once knew a man who claimed that God doesn’t even know who you are until you’re baptized. God disagrees.

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

The prophet Jeremiah was chosen by God before he was conceived! Nobody in the entire Old Testament was baptized for the same reason a Christian is baptized, yet God knew them. Another example is the apostle Paul. He persecuted Christians with a vengeance until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.

Paul certainly hadn’t been baptized yet, but Jesus knew him. Paul’s ministry and the letters he wrote have blessed generations of Christians. God knows you too, and has a special purpose for you. Once you accept Him as your Savior you need to grow in your faith and allow Him to sanctify your life for service to Him. First there has to be faith.

“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14).

The Holy Spirit is sealed within you when you first put your faith in Jesus and your eternal destination is heaven. What about asking for forgiveness—repenting, and turning from our sinful lives? Those things are a part of the sanctification process, which means you mature in your walk with the Lord. New Christians can’t fully understand what constitutes sin, therefore it’s impossible to confess every sin and turn from it.

There are big “in your face” sins, such as homosexuality or murder, but the smaller ones seem to be overlooked even by mature Christians. Anger and white lies are some of the sins that get ignored. A desire for a closer walk with God and prayer will reveal sins that get in the way of that walk.

This sanctification process is ongoing and will last until the day we die or until the rapture. The Holy Spirit will reveal things in your life that are opposed to God. That’s when you repent and turn from sin. Over time you begin to hate sin as God does.

When we first believe we become a new being…a new creation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God no longer sees you as a sinner condemned, but as His beloved child.

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17.)

It’s important for every Christian to strive to honor God with their lives. Living a God-honoring life won’t make you more saved, but there are rewards in heaven for living for Christ on earth. The way to earn those rewards is to become a living sacrifice to God.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

The first time you say no to participating in a sin may be difficult, but the second time you say no will be easier. Jesus, who was God incarnate, sacrificed everything to purchase your redemption. Any sacrifice you make in order to draw closer to Him pales in comparison to what He did for you.

The simplicity in believing in what Jesus did for us on that cross and through His resurrection shows the depth of God’s love for us. We must believe that God loves us, and that He loves us so much that He sent His perfect Son to take our punishment and to die in our stead. Salvation isn’t complicated. It may seem too simple, but it isn’t complicated.

“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:33).

People who can’t understand who Jesus is find Him to be a “a stumblingstone and rock of offence.” It’s hard for those who’ve been taught in school or at home that there is no God to accept that they are sinners in need of salvation. If the lie of evolution is embraced then there was no Creator.

If Adam wasn’t the first man, then death and sin must have always existed. If death and sin always existed, then why would God have to die for His creation? If there is no God, then there is no moral guide. God’s Word says that Adam was created on the sixth day and it was his sin that brought death.

Because of that sin, we need a Savior. Our own efforts and works can never repair the damage Adam’s sin caused. It’s only faith in Jesus Christ that repairs that damage and makes a person able to enter Heaven.

The free gift that God offers is just that, a free gift. We can never be “good enough” by our own works to earn salvation, but we must accept His gift of grace and mercy.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we are sanctified. It isn’t complicated; it only takes faith.

“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28-29).

Believe on Him (Jesus the Christ) whom He (God the Father) hath sent. That’s not complicated at all. The simplicity surrounding the decision to say yes to Jesus Christ has been given to us by God. Will you accept His free gift or will you reject it?

God doesn’t want any of His creation to perish.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

God wants you to come to Him in belief. You cannot sin enough to be beyond salvation. You may be in a jail cell right now because of a crime you committed, but you aren’t beyond God’s forgiveness.

Put your faith in Jesus and accept His free gift of salvation and your sins will be forgiven. Then, as Jesus told the prostitute:

“…Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord, And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” ( John 8: 10b-11.)

Jesus loves you and won’t condemn you if you turn to Him in faith, then turn from your sins.

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

That’s not complicated.

God bless you all,
Ron and Nathele Graham