Slow to Anger

Proverbs 16.32
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

This is our third commentary on this important proverb, and now we turn our attention to the importance of emotional management. It is a much-needed admonition because we tend to be undisciplined in the way we listen, speak, and manage our emotions. Our natural tendency is to be slow to hear other people, and much too hasty to speak and get angry.

This same message is given in the NT book of James:  “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1.19-20)

Self-control is essential because our old nature is quick, careless, convincing, and convenient.

• The old nature is
  quick. It is impulsive and reactionary. It acts fast based on the strongest emotion in the moment.

• The old nature is
  convincing. It is persuasive, tempting, and seductive. When we feel the impulses of the sin nature, there is a part of us that wants to follow the impulse, even though another part of us is saying, “Stop, don’t do that!”
• The old nature is
  convenient. It’s the easy thing to do. It is the path of least resistance. It requires no effort, no discipline, no skill. And it’s always right there and easily available to us.

Anger is not the only mismanaged emotion that leads us astray. What the James 1 passage is telling us is that none of the emotional impulses of the old nature will produce the righteousness of God.

How do you respond when you are caught in the grip of anxiety or fear?
How do you respond when you are directed by misguided affection?
How do you respond when directed by frustration? Indifference? Cynicism? Jealousy?

The old nature wants us to do the wrong thing, but our new nature in Christ wants us to do the right thing. It is a continuous struggle, and there are no days off. Sin is produced when we operate on the default path and are directed by the impulses of the old nature. The righteousness of God is produced when we operate on the path of wisdom and are directed by the disciplines of the new nature. 

Let’s be crystal clear: Operating according to the new nature requires discipline … the musar that Proverbs repeatedly emphasizes.  If we do not build and exercise spiritual discipline, then we will drift into default, fall under the influence of the quick, careless, and convincing passions of the old nature, and we will drift off-path.

James exhorts us to fight and win this battle by being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Proverbs 16 tells us to “rule our spirit.”

Press pause. Think, pray, and do the work.