"Be Slow To Anger?"

19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to anger; slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

Lets all be perfectly honest with ourselves.  What James is suggesting is probably fairly impossible for the human ego to even consider digesting.  

Right?   

And, as a matter of fact, it has been proven to be emotionally and physically unhealthy — dangerous — to stuff our anger.  

What I would rather James had said, is that we must find better ways to express feelings of frustration, disappointment and/or outrage.  By finding ways that are not hurtful and damaging to the one the anger is aimed at.

The truth is, we all, at least most of us, get pretty ticked off at someone, or something, from time to time.  Right?

And if we stuff that anger -- never express it.  It often leads to unkind behavior later down the road.  Behavior that  shows-up in of belated anger.  Anger which  often seems to be an over reaction that doesn’t fit the present circumstance.

What I am so clumsily trying to say is that anger is real feeling which needs an outlet. And the best way to get anger out is by talking about it in a calm and honest way.

Easier said than done.

I do this talking later.  After a period of calming of myself; when I can be more  reasonable and less reactive. Usually the next day, or so, when I will not be so hateful and disrespectful (sordidness and rank growth of wickedness,) to the person I need to talk to.  

Most always this conversation is possible only after a lot — al lot — of communication with God.  

God does an amazing job of giving my mind perspective. 

He helps me to arrange my words, and thoughts, in a manner that is more gentle and graceful.

…the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.   I call that the work of the Holy Spirit. 

James is correct in saying: 

²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.

Anger that is reacted to is what does not honor God’s request for us to love one another as we would love ourselves.

And I do not think there is anyone on this earth that enjoys being reacted to an angry ways.

Just my opinion of course.