Jame's Playbook for Dealing With Anger



“19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

      Paul tells us in Ephesians, "In your anger, do not sin." He does not say, "don't get angry," because anger is a God-given emotion.  Sin involves hate and letting that anger turn to hate.  Our flesh rails against our Spirit every day, and when we are in conflict, it will rear its ugly head every time.  James provides a playbook for dealing with anger. 

1.    Quick to Listen means when you are angry, you have to listen to God speak to you about 3 things: a. Identity b. Needs C. Circumstance. You need to hear that you are a New Creation, God’s special child, holy and blameless. You also need to hear that your needs are met-You are loved, accepted and forgiven, valued by the Father. And you need to know, ultimately, God is control of our circumstances and only He can bring about change. It also means that we have to really listen to the other person but in that order. It would do us quite well to sort tings out with God before we try to sort out conflict with our loved ones. I have often found that when I talk to God about the conflict, ti is gone. It was more about my belief system than it was about the so called offense. Allowing God to deal with our emotions and make us feel secure also frees us up to listen without getting defensive. 
 “True listening, a total concentration on the other is always an act of love.” (M. Scott Peck)
2.     Slow to speak – we all know we have said things in anger, we later regretted.
3.    Human Anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires -  our anger won’t change the person. Only God can bring about change, and sometimes our desire for change does not line up with God’s plan. We are fighting a losing battle.
4.    21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent – don’t deny the flesh; it is there; in fact, it is prevalent and God is not shocked by it.  He simply says to get rid of it. God's way of getting rid of stuff is not self improvement or self will. Getting rid of it is being honest with God about it, and relying on His Spirit to renew us. It is replacement. It is putting off the old and putting on the new; it is walking in the Spirit so we don't fulfill the desires of the flesh. 

5.    Humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you- The Word planted in us is Jesus Christ – it is His power within you that will save you right here and now from the flesh. Humbly accepting the Word planted in you is to believe your New Identity, believe your needs are met in Christ and realizing that the Sovereign God of the Universe is ultimately in control. It is accepting the things you can not change. It is knowing deep down in the essence of your being that "you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loves you." 

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