Lesson for May 4, 2022
Anger vs. Happiness
James 1:19-20, “You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.”
Being slow to anger is a virtue reserved for those who learn how to control their emotions. Learning how to control our emotions can come only from consistently being under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better and more honorable than the mighty [soldier], and he who rules and controls his own spirit, than he who captures a city.”
Colossians 3:8, “But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth.” Like all sin, anger produces its own misery. Anger is a destroyer of marriages, families, children, and friends, not to mention self. This is why the Word of God commands us to put away anger and not allow it to produce other sins in our life. The Bible says that anger can be controlled, and to do so is admirable. Proverbs 19:11, “Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, and it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment].”
There is a type of anger that is not a sin, called “righteous indignation,” according to Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], yet do not sin; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down. And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness].”
When we see an injustice being done, it often makes us angry. This type of anger is justified if it does not progress into wrath. The Greek word for anger is “orge,” which can mean indignation as in Mark 3:4-5, “He (Jesus) asked them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness and
arrogance of their hearts, He told the man, ‘Hold out your hand.’ And he held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.”
The Greek word for wrath is “thumos,” which means an outburst of anger or rage as in Luke 4:28-29, “As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage; and they got up and drove Him (Jesus) out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff.”
There are those within the body of Christ who have made emotion their god. These people are destroying their lives and have become the enemies of the Cross of Christ. Why? Because as believers in Jesus Christ, our citizenship is in Heaven, not in this world. Therefore, we are to operate our Christian lives on the basis of being Royal Family of God. The alternative is operating on the basis of Satan’s world system, i.e. human viewpoint and/or our emotions. Philippians 3:18-19, “For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose fate is destruction, whose god is their emotions, and whose glory is in their shame, who focus their minds on earthly and temporal things.”
Emotion is a wonderful thing, given to us by God. However, emotion without the proper devotion (following God’s instructions) can be destructive. Emotion is how we are able to appreciate all the things that we have received from God. However, God does not want us to live our lives based on how we feel emotionally at any given moment. He wants us to live our lives based on how He feels about everything that we think or do.
We have a perfect illustration in the Old Testament of the destruction that anger/wrath can produce. It’s the story of King Saul of Israel and David. We find this story in the book of I Samuel. Israel, the Jewish nation had existed without an earthly king from the day it was formed by Abraham, under the direction of God.
Typical of the Israelites, they were not satisfied with what God had provided as a way of life. As they looked around, they realized they didn’t have a king like the other nations had. Therefore, through the prophet Samuel, they talked God into allowing them to have a king. God chose Saul as their king. His arrogance in ignoring the instructions of God finally resulted in God choosing a new king. This new king was David.
When Saul became aware that David had been chosen to succeed him as king, he became angry and did everything in his power to kill David, though David remained loyal to Saul throughout the entire ordeal. Saul’s anger was a sin against God, but it also led to dissention between him and his son Jonathan. This dissention was because of the friendship that existed between David and Jonathan (they were like brothers). Saul’s anger also brought misery upon the entire nation to the point that Saul became involved in witchcraft. The story ends with Saul’s sons being killed by the Philistines and Saul killing himself. All this due to anger!
So how are we going to be able to control anger in our lives? The answer is in learning to share the happiness of God. Happy people rarely allow themselves to get angry. When they do, they recognize it as a mental attitude sin, confess it and move on. John 15:11, “If you keep My commandments (not getting angry), you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy (happiness) may be made full.”
Sharing God’s happiness comes as a result of obeying God’s Word according to John 13:17. Happiness comes when believers develop virtue and integrity in their souls, which translates into good decision-making (wisdom). (Proverbs 3:13,18) Consistently making good decisions creates an environment for happiness. Believers with virtue in their souls realize that neither circumstances, material wealth, nor other people can make them happy. (John 15:11; I John 1:4) This means that we must think our way to happiness, it doesn’t just happen.
Happiness is produced in the life of believers under the filling of the Holy Spirit according to Galatians 5:22-23. We are literally commanded to “rejoice always” in Philippians 4:4. It is therefore God’s desire for all of us to be full of His happiness according to John 17:13. This inner happiness is a part of the character of Jesus Christ being formed in us. This happiness is to be exhibited by us toward circumstances and toward others according to Jesus in John 15:10-12.
Being happy as a Christian is learning to accept what life brings our way as part of a growth process. A part of this is learning to be grateful regardless of our circumstances. Gratitude can go a long way to producing happiness because it takes away those negative thoughts of complaining and grumbling.
Paul learned this concept according to Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances. I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need. I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]”
In this passage, Paul states that he had learned to be content in the midst of any circumstance. This means that happiness or contentment did not come naturally to Paul, it had to be learned. Paul spent a lot of time in prison, being persecuted. Humanly speaking, it would be very difficult to be happy under those circumstances. Sometimes during Paul’s walk with the Lord, he suffered adversity and sometimes prosperity. But in both circumstances, Paul learned that he could do all things through Christ who was strengthening him. So, Paul had to learn how to deal with adversity and with prosperity (both can be a distraction to the execution of God’s plan for us). Often adversity is not the greatest test for a believer. During adversity most of us, believer, and unbeliever, turn to God for help. However, during times of prosperity it is very easy to forget the source of that prosperity. This, of course, eventually brings misery.
Paul prayed for believers in in Colossae that they would learn to be happy in Colossians 1:9-11, “For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom, and in understanding,so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God;strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy (happiness).” Paul prayed that they would be filled with Bible doctrine and that it would cause them to please the Lord by being fruitful (divine production). He prayed they would be consistent in learning doctrine which would strengthen and invigorate them by giving them endurance and persistence in living the Christian Way of Life with happiness.
The more time we spend in the study and application of God’s Word, the more time we will spend being happy. In order to share the happiness of God, believers must possess the peace of God. The peace of God is available only to those who already have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].”
The peace of God is experiential peace, and every believer has the potential to have this peace. But like everything else in the Christian Way of Life it is a choice… maybe you will and maybe you won’t experience this peace. The good news is that God in His grace has provided the procedure for obtaining this peace. This procedure is found in Isaiah 26:3 and Hebrews 4:10-12. The procedure is clear: think Bible doctrine and apply Bible doctrine. We call it the Faith-Rest Technique and it works!!!
The principle of Faith-Rest is from God, who is perfect. Believers must cease from human good and enter into a rest from God. The Holy Spirit does the work. The requirement is faith, not human works. Faith is the absence of any human merit, which means, that in and of itself, faith has no value or worth. The value or worth is in the object of our faith. The object of faith for believers should always be God and His Word.
This peace is the same peace that Jesus told His disciples He was going to give them. (John 14:27) The peace of God comes by following this divine procedure, which is: don’t worry but put everything in the hands of God and let Him handle it. (Philippians 4:5-8) We do this with Divine Viewpoint Thinking, which allows the peace of God to rule our hearts (thinking). (Colossians 3:15-16) The heart in Scripture is not the physical pumping organ. (Proverbs 23:7; Romans 10:10) The Greek word for heart is “kardia,” the storage compartment for all knowledge. (Psalms 119:1) The heart is where norms and standards are stored. (Psalms 19:14) The heart is also where vocabulary is developed, so that a person can think properly. (I Corinthians 2:9-14)
The peace of God can rule your heart (thinking) only when you have peace with God and when you are executing God’s plan for your life through consistent study and application of His Word. This study and application develops the proper norms and standards and vocabulary for believers, which the Holy Spirit uses to empower us to fulfill God’s plan.