vv 8-9. But now is the time to get rid of anger, RAGE, malicious behaviour, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
Rage is a sudden flaring up of physical or verbal violence in response to some real or imaginary hurt. We might see it in road rage; someone with a short fuse feels slighted or hurt by another driver and the stage is set for a violent outburst of uncontrolled rage. There might be a physical confrontation, and it has been known to lead to murder. It can occur even in the context of the home, or a place of employment. If you ever find it directed against you, it can be very frightening. The most surprising people can suddenly lose their temper in a fit of rage; I’ve certainly heard it said of a person at work ‘He’s on a short fuse today’.
In the early days of the Church, Stephen defended his faith in front of the Jewish leaders; in verse 54 we read ‘they shook their fists at him in rage’ and then went on to stone him to death. The early part of his sermon was well received, but things turned nasty all of a sudden. That was rage – and the original meaning of the word was to ‘grind the teeth’.
The Christian, with new life, learns to control such feelings by praying for gentleness in every circumstance. If that fits you in any way, you can be assured that rage can be beaten – God will work with you to win the battle.
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