Hot Head

 Have you ever wondered why God created different moods? To put it another way, have you ever considered why God created different emotions? Emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger, love, hate, and others. Can you contemplate living in an emotionless world? Where there are no feelings. People become robotic. We are fast seeing that come to fruition in an age of artificial intelligence. 

An artificially intelligent avatar was created to preach a sermon. 300 people showed up in a church in Europe to listen to the sermon. The avatar preached via video for about 30 minutes. Many people liked it. One of the most common complaints was the lack of emotion in it. 

God created moods. Different moods apply to and are appropriate for different situations. It is perfectly natural for a person to weep and be sad when a loved one dies. It is also fitting when a newlywed couple are all smiles on their wedding day. Parents are moved to joyful tears when they are handed their new baby for the first time. When a person is attacked, abused, or wronged people get angry. 

Anger has to be one of the strongest emotions. There are so many different ways in the English language to express the mood of anger. Try some of these. Fury. Rage. Outburst of anger. Hot head. Short fuse. Hit the ceiling. Blow up. Fly off the handle. Pitch a fit. Blow their stack. Loose their cool. Flip out. Explode. Many different ways of describing the same mood. 

People who lose their temper can be set off by any little thing. You may never know what will get their dander up. Everything may be smooth sailing and suddenly a squall of anger can turn the seas stormy in the snap of a finger. A snide comment, an inconvenience, a minor irritation, an unmet expectation, a wrong perceived and or done, and the mood of anger begins to belch and erupt like molten lava from a volcano. 

People who cannot control their temper can be toxic and destructive. They can fly into a rage destroying objects in their path. They may use cutting words that strike down like a machete. They lose control as the vent and blow their top no matter where they are or who surrounds them. 

I know of what I write. I have battled a bad temper all of my life. It caused me to get into multitudes of fights when I was a child and a teenager. I have angrily smashed my fists into people, windows, doors, cars, and other objects as a student. Through Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, that hot head in me has cooled. He has produced self-control in me on most occasions. You will notice I did not say all. There are still times when my buttons can be pushed. I no longer smash people or things. I have learned to simmer down, to pray, to walk away, to let cooler heads prevail, and to be slower to speak. This is evidence of the supernatural work of God in me. If my flesh ruled on a daily basis I fear what kind of person I would be. Irritable. Irascible. 

I see hot headed people in society. They live in extreme emotions. From rage to depression. From happiness to fits of anger. They are difficult people. Often leaving a wake of destruction in their paths. Christian or pagan. Preachers or pew dwellers. Dads and moms. Brothers and sisters. Husbands and wives. Friends and foes. Chances are you will cross paths with a hot head at some time or another. They will cause you to walk on pins and needles, to carefully watch what you say or do around them. You do not want them to explode against you. 

God created anger. The Bible is filled with passages where even God gets angry. His righteous indignation is different than a hot head. First, He is slow to anger. He is also perfectly justified when He gets angry for things like rebellion, disobedience, wickedness, evil, and hypocrisy. The full rage of God will be unleashed in judgment against sinners who were never saved.  He will trample them like grapes in a vat being crushed under foot until the juice flows. His judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, the Philistines, and even His covenant people Israel are recorded in the pages of the Bible. We cannot justly accuse God of wrongdoing when He angrily deals with sinners. 

The Bible also has a lot to say about anger. 

Proverbs 12:16 (NASB)

¹⁶  A fool's anger is known at once, But a prudent man conceals dishonor.

Proverbs 14:29 (NASB)
²⁹  He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:1 (NASB)
¹  A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:18 (NASB)
¹⁸  A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

Proverbs 16:32 (NASB)
³²  He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

Ephesians 4:26 (NASB)
²⁶  BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

 Ephesians 4:31 (NASB)

³¹  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 

These are just a sampling of verses from the Bible about anger and controlling one's temper. It really boils down to be controlled by the Holy Spirit or being controlled by the fleshly carnal nature. A Spirit-controlled person may get angry, but they in subjection to the Spirit will not lose their temper. We learn in Gal 5:16 that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 

How much pain and destruction could be avoided if people were led by the Holy Spirit and were not hot heads. It would be a different world. One where people might still disagree but not make everything a fight. A world where peace might abound in families, churches, workplaces, and in society. Where love would triumph over hate. Where grace and forgiveness would get the upper hand over vengeance and violence.

There are times when anger is appropriate. God created it. Anger is not justified by hot headed people when they say, "That's just how I am, or how God made me." That is an excuse to live an undisciplined life. God would not call us to be angry and sin not if it were not possible to do so. Maybe not possible in the natural realm. It certainly is in the spiritual realm. 

I thank God for emotions. Different moods help spice up life. We should not let our moods control us. The Holy Spirit should control our moods.  Hot headed people can become more patient, slower to anger, and able to keep their hot heads in check. The world is a far better place for those who are able to do this with God's help. May God help cooler heads to prevail for all current and former hot heads.