Tofu (Proverbs 22:24-25)

There are certain people whom we should not associate ourselves with.

"Make no friendships with a man given to anger, and with a wrathful man do not associate, lest you learn his ways and get yourself into a snare." Proverbs 22:24-25, Amplified

It is a simple concept, we will become whomever we associate ourselves with. This is inevitable. People are like tofu, taking on the flavor and characteristics of anyone and everyone around them.

Love on Them (Proverbs 19:11)

There is something about having the ability to overlook a matter. When a sin is committed against ourselves, do we have the ability to forgive?

"Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense." Proverbs 19:11, Amplified

How are we to restrain our anger? Jesus is our greatest example. Even on the cross He did not lash out in anger as humanity jeered at Him. If it were me on the cross, I may have taken myself off and called down fire from heaven. But this is not what we are looking at here today. It is the restraint of anger and the overlooking of transgression.

Please do not mistake the restraint of anger as tolerance, however. It is our goal in the youth ministry at my church to love on the kids. We even want to open our hearts to the homosexual population of the Morongo Basin. To brow beat a child and tell him he is going to Hell is no way to reach him. Jesus hung out with whores and thieves. It was the love that He had for them that made Him desirable. He did not condone their behavior but as He touched lives, they could not stay the same, they had to change. Speaking the truth in love causes the truth to kindle within the heart of the sinner until it is fanned to flame.

It is not our job to bring judgement on anyone, rather to speak the truth in love. Though the lifestyle of homosexuality is not condoned, love still needs to be the main focus of ministry. What I think is unrealized by most ministries, is that first there is a sealing of the individual then comes the change. When God was numbering the children of Israel for the building of the Tabernacle, every man had to give a half shekel of silver. This money was referred to as either a ransom or atonement money in two verses. The ransom refers to "pitch" which Noah used to seal the ark. The atonement money is actually the word used for "henna" as in tattoos. Changed cannot come before sealing for that would conclude that we have the power to enter heaven on our own. Rather we are sealed by Jesus first, and because of that sealing, we are moved to change.

This belief system is not just for homosexuality, but any type of sin. the kid who is sleeping around with the opposite sex, the one who is stealing, the one who is drinking or using drugs. We need to love on everyone. Because of the lack of judgment, we can bring them closer to Jesus. It is our job to love, it is the job of the Bible to convict the heart of man.

The Fruit of the Spirit (Proverbs 16:32)

Self control is a concept I feel is waning in the American culture.

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his own spirit than he who takes a city." Proverbs 16:32, Amplified

Being slow to anger has to do with controlling emotion. Solomon compares the controller of anger to a mighty man and calls the former the better. It is so easy to allow our emotions to get the better of us. The apostle Paul understood this and he wrote to the one of the churches, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice." (Ephesians 4:31, NKJV) Being put away with all malice means to violently expel them from your person; it is actually kind of oxymoronic. But this is how it has to be, we need to get violent with violent emotion so that we do not get violent with our fellow man. There is a time and a place for anger, but we need to be men and women who are not consumed by it. When anger rules a life, Jesus has no place in the heart.

As we become slow to anger, we become more savvy in the ruling of our own spirits. Solomon likens the controller of his own spirit to one who takes a city and calls the former the better. Now controlling the spirit entails more than just curbing anger. Controlling the spirit has a reign on all emotion such as greed, gluttony, lust and anger. There are more emotions than I have time to list, but you get the idea that we must become the masters of our emotions or our emotions will indeed become the masters of us. Paul wrote, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV) Having no law against these things means that there is nothing evil anyone can say regarding a persons actions when operating in the fruit of the Spirit.

Control Yourself (Proverbs 15:18)

There are those out there who love to stir up things and cause fights and contentions. This of course, is something that Lord does not like.

"A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger appeases contention." Proverbs 15:18, Amplified

One seems to be happier in an environment that complements his distemper. A wise man once said, "Miserable being must find more miserable being, then he is happy." A hot tempered man stirs up strife around him because this is all that he knows. Being slow to anger is an attribute that a child of God has. "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20, NKJV) The man who is slow to anger is able to see what others do not; he has the ability to pray about the situation. There is so much benefit or a man when he can control his anger.

Wrath (Proverbs 14:29)

In the past decade, the escalation of wrath has been phenomenal. Children dying at the hands of angry parents. The introduction of the term "Road Rage". One of the signs of a Christian is he who is slow to anger. It is an attribute of God. The Lord has had almost 2,000 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus to destroy the world, but we are still here despite the proverbial spit in the face.

"He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty of spirit exposes and exalts his folly." Proverbs 14:29, Amplified

I know that for myself, there have been some times where I have gotten angry at something simply because I did not fully understand what was going on. If I had remained calm and asked one or two more questions, or let someone explain what was going on, I would have never looked like the idiot. Patience allows for one to fully envelope his surrounding s and understand what is going on and calculate a response. James encourages Christians of the same thing, "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20, NKJV)

I encourage anyone who may have this issue in their lives to pray to the Lord and find a way to manage the anger. Hastiness is never from the Lord. Wrath is not becoming of God. Peace and patience are two attributes that never left Jesus' side. I used to be that man who was hasty in his anger, but it was because of unexposed sin in my own life. I this is the case for you, confess it quickly. If not, pray that the Lord would lead the quest of self discovery and become a better man (or woman) because of it.