anger in our hearts

Where does anger come from? What makes you angry? Why do you get angry? Some say it’s past trauma, like abuse, abandonment, or PTSD. Maybe it’s present suffering or unmet emotional needs. Could it be physical, like hormones? Maybe, “It’s the booze talking” or “Satan’s on my back.” Where does anger come from?

Jesus said in Mark 7, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” He also said in Luke 6:45, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” We know our heart is desperately sick and deceitful above all things (Jer 17:9). Pastor and counselor Robert Jones summarizes, “Sinful anger comes from the sinful beliefs and motives that reign in an unbeliever and remain in a Christian.” Anger comes from inside you, in your heart.

James spent significant time talking about anger in chapter 4. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Where does anger come from? It is the desires and pleasures in our hearts that fight within us that cause anger. Unmet wants produce anger; anger arises when we don’t get what we want. Coveting and selfish motives produce anger. Our desires for evil things, or our excessive desires for good things, underlie our rage.

So how do we overcome anger? It’s a heart issue, and we fight the battle in our hearts. Notice what James says in 4:6-10: “He gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” We flood our hearts with God’s grace and forgiveness and mercy and love. We submit our hearts to Him and resist the devil. We draw near to God, with repentance and dependence in our hearts, and bow our hearts to Him in humility. Anger comes from our sinful hearts, and that is where we fight the battle and overcome.