A hot-tempered man stirs up conflict. Do you bark at your wife or kids? Throw temper tantrums? Do you seethe with bitterness or seek revenge? Do you leave conflict in your wake? Instead of letting anger motivate noble deeds, it can easily degenerate into violence, destructiveness, and abuse. A hot-tempered man turns his home into a battlefield, imposing his outbursts on his wife and children, leaving them his primary victims. He fills his workplace with stress and can even turn fun pastimes—like a church softball game—into inappropriate expressions of misplaced rage.

Healthy Anger

Jesus stands ready to change you into a man who is “slow to anger.” That doesn’t mean you’ll never get angry; it just means your anger can be transformed for righteous purposes. You can become angry yet still respect people and honor their boundaries. You can use anger to preserve relationships instead of destroying them. You can passionately shield the weak and stand for truth even at great cost. Instead of a dangerous emotion that springs from sinful pride, your Christlike anger can become a holy energy that motivates virtue.

Bottom Line

By God’s grace you can transform your anger from destructive to life-giving.