Day 2 

Mark and Shelly Nelson, authors

Today we want to look at the wisdom in Proverbs to better understand how we can be perceived because of our acts of anger. These passages highlight a quick temper and hasty words to describe foolish behavior. As we seek wisdom in this study, we need to grasp how God handles anger. It’s true! Even God gets angry.

Read

Proverbs 14:17 (ESV)

A man of quick temper acts foolishly,

    and a man of evil devices is hated.

Proverbs 14:29 (ESV)

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,

but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Proverbs 29:20 (ESV)

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?

    There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Ask yourself

• Have you ever regretted – felt foolish – for becoming angry?
• How much time is there between your feeling of anger and your expression of anger?
• What do you know about the anger of God?

Read what others say

From Colin Smith:

“When we speak about the wrath of God, remember that it is the wrath of God. Everything that we know about Him—that He is just, that He is love, and that He is good—needs to be poured into our understanding of His wrath.

The words ‘anger’ and ‘wrath’ make us think about our own experience of these things. You may have suffered because of someone who is habitually angry. Human anger can often be unpredictable, petty, and disproportionate. These things are not true of the anger of God. God’s wrath is the just and measured response of His holiness towards evil.

…

The divine wrath toward sin was poured out, or spent, on Jesus. He became the ‘propitiation’ for our sins (Rom. 3:25) as He became the sacrifice for us. This big word ‘propitiation’ means that the recompense or the payment for our sins was poured out on Jesus at Calvary.

The outpouring of God’s wrath on Jesus Christ was the greatest act of love this world has ever seen. And Jesus stands before us today, a living Savior. He offers to us the priceless gift of peace with God. He is ready to forgive your sins and to fill you with His Spirit. He is able to save you from the wrath and to reconcile you to the Father. He has opened the door of heaven, and He is able to bring you in. Are you ready to find peace with God through Him?”^[1]

Pray

• Recognize God for his patience – not just in general with the world, but with you. Acknowledge that Jesus received the wrath of God that you were due.
• Confess specific times in recent days when you’ve been like the fool who was quick-tempered instead of slow to anger.
• Ask the Spirit to make you aware of when your temper is leaning toward foolishness and to guide you in how to handle situations in a godly way.

Talk about it

• When do you feel justified in your anger? How does that compare with how God handles his righteous anger?
• If a “hasty temper exalts folly”, how could being “slow to anger” exalt God in your life instead?
• How has a “quick temper” impacted your relationships with others? What can you do to restore those relationships?

^[1] Colin, Smith, “Five Ways God’s Anger is not Like Ours” Unlocking the Bible, (August 21, 2020) https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/08/five-ways-gods-anger-not-like-ours/