JAMES DAY 6 - Why So Mad?

DAY 6
WHY SO MAD?
James 1:19-21
 
Words can move the world or burn it down. Christians are supposed to love people but too often we hurt people with words. This week’s focus, James 1:19-27, is all about words: angry words, God’s words, and wild words.

First, James confronts angry words. “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” How much of our refusal to listen to other people is because we're angry? How much of our rush to talk is because we're angry?

Why do we get mad?

The details might change but underneath it’s all the same: we get angry because we think we're right and we think our anger can make things right.

Don't you feel a sense of rightness, a sense of righteousness, when you're angry? I'm mad because I see something wrong in this world, something that needs fixed. If I can aim my anger at that thing, that situation, that person, I can fix it. I can make it right and I will be righteous.

But James deflates all of that with one sentence: “Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” The righteousness God desires is our maturity, and we know from scripture that maturity looks like Jesus. It's having the heart of Jesus, the mind of Christ, it's overflowing with the fruit of the spirit. It's a holy love for God and neighbor. Anger doesn’t make that maturity real.

REFLECT
Agree or disagree: “We get angry because we think we're right and we think our anger can make things right.” Explain your answer.
 
PRAY
Lord, open my eyes this week to how I use my words. Help me to better understand my anger and help me to see better ways to cope with it. Amen.