James 1:20
[20] “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
The word “wrath” represents the strongest of all passions that a man possesses. It is the highest form of anger. It expresses anger in a natural impulse. The wrath of man can be described as losing his cool and flying off the handle, with no regard for his words or actions. A man so boiling with fury, that he doesn’t take the time to think about the consequences of his action or the people he may be hurting around him.
We all know people like the man in our verse. It might be a family member or a supervisor at work. It could be a co-worker, or even worse, someone who attends our church. I do want to note, that James is talking to brethren in this verse. The church is the one place where people should not have to see angry people. The world is full of wrath, but the church should be full of love. The church should be a place where people are patient, kind, and gentle.
A supervisor may get his way with employees by displaying wrath. Everyone may walk lightly around that family member who is a hothead. Church members might even avoid that member who claims, “he’s short-fused”. However, the man full of wrath will get nowhere with God. The Lord will not be moved, or threatened, by a wrathful man.
This verse makes it clear that there is nothing spiritual about displaying wrath. Moses was the meekest man on the earth, but he got angry and smote the rock a second time. His wrath cost him the opportunity to go into the promised land. We should be angry about the things that God is angry about, but our anger should be harnessed by the Word of God. The Lord never blesses the attitude of, “Well, I don’t care”. We should always care what God thinks about our anger, and what others see when we are angry. God has every right to pour his wrath out on us, but yet he shows us mercy every day. We must display the same character before others.