Proverbs 15 – Thoughts From My Devotions

9 Comments

A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife. (Proverbs 15:18)

I think this verse along with the proverb about giving judgment before a matter is heard go together to instruct us about how quick we should be to get angry.  Some anger is not wrong or sin, but much, probably most, is.  We must be careful to be slow in getting angry.  Sure enough, as soon as we do, we’ll notice that we didn’t know the whole story or our human judgment was faulty, and we’ll appease strife.  Do you have a lot of strife around you?  A wrathful man stirreth up strife.

There are times to get angry, but let’s make them the right times.  And let them be after some time.  He that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

Categories:

Published by Jeff Voegtlin

Dr. Jeff Voegtlin has been in Christian service for over twenty years. He is an associate pastor at Fairhaven Baptist Church in Chesterton, Indiana, and a Vice President of Fairhaven Baptist College. As conductor of the church and schools' orchestra program, and overseer of the educational program of the college, his teaching has helped to train hundreds of young adults to prepare for full-time ministry. After completing a bachelor's degree from Fairhaven Baptist College, he received a master's degree in Bible from Pensacola Christian College. In 2007, he completed the requirements to finish a doctor's degree in education from Bob Jones University. Dr. Voegtlin is available for seminars in instrumental and choral music practice and philosophy, for education seminars, and to preach and present the college ministry.

9 Comments

  1. Amen!, it is best to confront a brother or a sister privately (assuming the offense is private in nature) before passing judgment, or assuming (imputing) bad motives. I think these are part of being ‘slow to anger.’

  4. I defend righteous anger also. I wonder though, if we were slower to righteous anger, we might stir up less strife and accomplish more. Is it possible to be righteously angry in a fleshly way?

  5. God is slow to righteous anger, so I say yes. How slow is slow? Some people never speak up against something unscriptural. The people on the other end of righteous anger don’t think it is slow enough. They don’t normally celebrate the patience one has; not usually enough patience for them. Could people behaving unrighteously do better with more patience? Probably. That’s what I can work on, always. I become impatient with the criticism from someone disobeying about how I’m dealing with them. Isn’t their disobedience which precipitated this thing. That being said, I agree.

    Look at the second two articles at this blog. These, I’m pretty sure are neos, but they say some good stuff about anger. http://themacks.wordpress.com/

  7. BTW, I think these macks (Mack boys) must be the sons of Wayne Mack. I think he’s a popular teacher at the Master’s College. I know I’ve seen some materials on marriage produced by him. I never was able to look through it, but someone who was getting married at another church was told to work through it with their fiancee as they approached the wedding.

  8. Sorry Kent, but your information about the Mack’s is wrong. I’m Wayne Mack and never wrote any of the stuff you mentioned. I wrote a lot on marriage and child rearing, but none of the stuff you mentioned. Please check Proverbs 18:13and do what it says before you give counsel. And, by the way, I am now a missionary with Grace Missions International (the missionary arm of Grace Community Church where John MacArthur pastors). I am now teaching Biblical Counseling in South Africa.I still come back every year to teach at The Master’s College in the Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling program. Sorry to disillusion you, but whoever you were referring to wasn’t me. YOu might want to read the book I edited and coauthored with John MacArthur called Introduction to Biblical Counseling which makes my views on psychology very clear. Blessings in Christ. My son, Joshua, a graduate of The Master’s College and Seminary joins me in writing http://www.themacks.wordpress.com blog. That site will give you a more accurate perspective on our convictions.

  9. Well, the comment is deleted, but for those reading, I wrote in a manner of speculation to speculate who the Macks were, because, I believe, there is a whole other Mack that wrote on the very thing that I mentioned, in a similar area. So I got the wrong Macks. I apologize to the Macks for my needless speculation.

    That got clarified rather quickly since these Macks read Pastor Voegtlin, I believe. I wouldn’t put my comments in the nature of “counsel” per se, but simply commenting on what Pastor Voegtlin said about the Macks, who we, incidentally, were linking in a good way despite whether they were in our out of fellowship with John MacArthur. So again, I apologize to the Macks.–>

Comments are closed.