James 1:20-Anger does not Produce Righteousness

This particular passage of Scripture was written by James, the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a continuation of the previous article that I wrote: James 1:19-Be Slow to Anger, if you have a chance please take the time to read it. What it will do is provide you with some background pertaining to what the Lord has to say about anger.

One interesting fact about the book of James is that he opens up his letter by addressing himself as a bondservant of God and Jesus Christ, James 1:1. The Lord expects us as believers to do the same living a life upright in the sight of God.

Primarily what that means is that we are to abide by the rules and stipulations found in the Holy Bible. God expects His children to be doers of the Word and not just a hearer of the Word only. James has a way of giving us practical life lessons on how to obtain the righteousness God desires. That is why he gives us warnings against human anger knowing that it is one of the most used tactics of the enemy.

Wrath within a person will cause so many problems in all aspects of their life. It will also prevent you from producing good fruits necessary for spiritual growth. What are good fruits and what does that mean? God’s Word reveals the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 when the Apostle Paul discloses, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

You will know that you are allowing the Spirit of God to guide and lead you when it comes to your character because you will be radiating His fruit. As we can see anger, animosity, bitterness, hatred, jealousy, and etc. are not listed. Make no mistake about it; anger is a wide open door to allow the devil to wreak havoc in your life.

That is why the Lord warns us regarding the anger of man both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. For example in Ephesians 4:26-27 Paul details, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” Not only does man’s wrath produce sin if it is not put in check but it will also give place (opportunity, power, or occasion for acting) to the devil.

We can see the effects of anger running rampant in the world today. The enemy is capitalizing on the fact that a lot of Christians do not allow God’s Word to renew their mind, Romans 12:2. So what that does is prevents the mind of man from understanding God’s righteous purpose for their life.

Now let’s take a look at the primary passage of Scripture that I am highlighting out of the book of James. It will give us more of an idea of God’s perspective regarding the subject of anger.