If there was ever a universal sin, that sin is anger. It just very well may be the very first sin that we each commit. Anger has the potential of doing great harm when it's not controlled. There are times when righteous anger is the appropriate response to things that may be happening. But we need to be aware of the fact that, if anger raises up in us, and we allow it to turn into thoughts of rage... if that leads us into speaking words and doing things that are not in keeping with the will of God, we will actually be guilty of dishonoring God. And by dishonoring God, we obviously are not glorifying Him. Instead, we may actually be harming other people and hindering the godly influence we are suppose to have; that's when anger can become sinful. We have to be aware of this kind of sinful anger. It is inevitable that, when this kind of anger has the opportunity to take hold, even if it is just for short moment, (perhaps even an instantaneous moment), it will throw us off of our mental balance. And if we speak rashly with our lips, we will end up provoking the listener.The words we say can put a smile on someone's face or bring tears to another one's eyes. We can encourage one another with the words we speak or we can crush and stir them into anger . Our words are more powerful than we give them credit. In the world today, there are a number of different types of systematic attacks on people by the devil - especially since he knows his time is short. He employs certain types of devil spirits to do specific jobs so that he can continue his ministry which is to steal, kill, and destroy. One of his most prevalent attacks is to use a devil spirit of provocation to incite, make you anxious and fearful and overall take your peace away from you. You can be provoked by people, by circumstances and by the environment, but more than likely, it is people through whom the adversary works by controlling and possessing them to do his will. We all have a tendency to over react when provoked. One day a Midwestern Lawyer became so discouraged with his productivity that he despaired of everything in life. He wrote in his diary, "I do not know if my life is worth anything to anyone. I often wonder if my life will ever be worth anything and I am afraid that it will not." Even his close friends and family members removed all knives and razor blades from him fearing that he would commit suicide. Through prayer, meditation and the quiet assurances of his friends, this young man overcame his sense of depression. That man became the finest president of the US. His name was Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe took those same hard earned lessons with him to the White House where he learned not to over-react in times of great civil war. He saved the union because of his calm ability to deal with problems one at a time with wisdom and God’s guidance. Perhaps this may be one of the reasons that James wrote, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:19) Only when our mind, will and emotions are under the control of the Spirit of God can we accomplish His perfect will. In our fast paced world there are many temptations to respond quickly without weighing our words. Hasty over reactions are the cause of many poor decisions.Sometimes you may be able to win a battle, but lose a bigger war. Many words said in anger are zingers that can bring short-term gain, but long term pain.Two things can ruin your future success - ignorance and haste.When anger is not met with a biblical solution you can end up killing yourself. Anger is a killer. If it does not kill you physically it gets you emotionally but the ultimate end is to kill you spiritually.Jesus was never ANGRY because of what anybody ever did to Him. I’m sure Jesus was HURT when He saw the unbelief of the people (He wept over their unbelief at the raising of Lazarus from the dead) … but He wasn’t ANGRY. I’m sure Jesus was HURT when Peter denied Him 3 times … but He wasn’t ANGRY. I’m sure Jesus was HURT when the Jews mocked Him while He hung on the cross … but He wasn’t ANGRY (He asked God to forgive them!).Jesus was ANGRY over the RIGHT THINGS … for the RIGHT REASONS. Jesus was never ANGRY at PEOPLE … but He did get ANGRY at the sins they were committing against God … “being grieved for the hardness of their heart”. Jesus got ANGRY when an injustice was done against other people … and against God. BUT … Jesus never got ANGRY for sins committed against HIM. Isn’t this where much of OUR ANGER comes from? We get angry when people sin against us … when we don’t get OUR way … when we are irritated or displeased at what they have done to us. THEN … it becomes a SINFUL ANGER, when we lose our temper and lash out in bitterness and vengeance. When in anger , words spoken are never pleasant . Paul is saying when we use words that tear people down rather than building them up we are grieving The Holy Spirit of God. God is not pleased with our words because they are not building up the body of Christ.What kind of words do you remember hearing in your life? Can you remember the words that have brought you joy, health or life? My guess is that you may have a hard time thinking of those words, but you can quickly and easily remember the words that tore you down. What’s sad is that we can remember the harsh, critical and unkind words more than the good ones. I read once that for every one negative or critical word we receive it takes six positive words to balance it out. All this tells us that negative words hurt more and go deeper and last longer than positive words and yet think about our culture - it is filled almost exclusively with negative words.At a time when we should have been coming together as one nation and building each other up as a community, our words were still tearing others apart. This is the culture we live in. Whether it is in church, home, school, sports or politics, this is the culture we live in, too many of our words tear others apart and no where do we see this more clearly than in social media.While we can’t control what other people say, we can control what we say and we can control what we choose to listen to. If we want to come clean and begin to rid ourselves of toxic words and the power of toxic words in our lives then we start by choosing what we will listen to and what we will believe about the words we hear.While we live in a world full of toxic words, we can make the choice today to come clean and “let no unwholesome words come out of our mouths but only what is helpful for building others up.” It is a choice we can make today and it is a choice we can make every day. The right choice brings life. The right choice brings faith and the right choice begins to turn our culture and world around. We need to change those words and fill our minds and hearts with positive faith-filled words that will shape our lives. If God had just thought about creating the heavens and the earth and never said a word, we wouldn’t be here, but God spoke. God’s word was shared and it created life. Our positive words when spoken can bring life. So if you think something positive and good - share it. If you think something negative, harsh and critical - keep silent. What did our parents teach us? If you don’t have anything nice to say… withhold your tongue lest you provoke someone in anger..A man's most severe criticism comes when he gets provoked.Severe truth is expressed with some bitterness. Proverbs 22:24-25 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.