BE SLOW TO ANGER
The Scripture says: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”
We are also advised not to let the sun go down on our wrath.
If we desire to succeed in any enterprise we must “possess our souls in patience.” In Luke XVI, 19, it is explained: “In your patience possess your souls.”
We are nowhere advised not to be angry, but to possess our souls in our anger. That is: Never let anger get the better of our control.
In Ephesians IV, 26, it is said: “Be ye angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”
This is the key to what is known as “temper.” It is the part of a wise man to control his temper. Not to have any temper at all is to be one whom Col. Roosevelt calls “a mollycoddle,” and such a person is truly weak and without any backbone.
But the anger or the temper which leads to violence is to be controlled absolutely. Those sudden gusts of passion lead to crime as sure as the sun rises and sets every day. And it is always personal violence, even to the extent of murder that is the result of giving way to such an emotion. No one ever becomes violently angry because he is not a good man.
If a man stands up in his manhood, and despises small things, he will be in a position to control his angry feelings no matter how much he may feel hurt by the acts of another.
If we could get angry with ourselves because we do not improve, that would be an anger worth cultivating. But so far as others are concerned, let your anger be mild and never reach the point of resentment, for that always leads to revenge which is a fatal emotion.
If others are the cause of anger to us, keep away from them, and if we must associate with them, keep cool and bide your opportunity.