12.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The twelfth mark of a mature Christian is that he is patient (not quick-tempered).
• Being arrogant and being quick-tempered are two closely connected sins.
• There is a difference between unrighteous anger and righteous anger:
  - Unrighteous anger comes from arrogance and moves us to do unrighteous things.
  - Righteous anger comes from love and moves us to do righteous things.
• Jesus and God his Father are slow to anger and quick to forgive.
• Knowing how patient God is with us, we should also be patient with others.
• Only a patient believer can be useful in God’s kingdom.

12.2 1 Kings 21:1-4 (ESV)←⤒🔗

^1. Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

^2. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.'

^3. But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.'

^4. And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

© NET Bible

12.3 Titus 1:7-8 (ESV)←⤒🔗

^7. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

^8. but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

© NET Bible

12.4 “Not…arrogant or quick-tempered”←⤒🔗

We are still looking at Titus 1:7. After writing that an overseer must not be arrogant, Paul adds these words: “or quick-tempered.”

Being arrogant and being quick-tempered are two closely connected sins. Deep in his heart, an arrogant person thinks that it is everyone’s task to please him. He thinks that the world must be the way he wants it to be. So, if someone or something does not please him, he gets angry. He is quick-tempered.

We clearly see this in the life of King Ahab of Israel. In our passage from 1 Kings 21, we find just one example of his arrogance and anger. (For more examples, you can look at 1 Kings 18:17 and 1 Kings 20:43.)

Ahab thought that the land of Israel belonged to him. After all, he was king! But his neighbour Naboth did not agree. Naboth remembered that the Lord had divided the land of Israel among the different tribes and families of Israel. So, he refused to sell his family’s land to Ahab.

Ahab’s arrogance quickly turned into anger. He went home, “vexed and sullen” (verse 4). Like an angry child, he lay on his bed and refused to eat. 

12.5 Righteous and unrighteous anger←⤒🔗

Let us now look at the anger of another king: Jesus Christ. Jesus became very angry at the Pharisees when they did not want a man to be healed on a Sabbath (Mark 3:5). He was strongly displeased with his own disciples when they tried to stop little children from coming to him (Mark 10:14).

The most famous example of Jesus’ anger is found in John 2:15-16. When he saw people doing business in the temple courts, “he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold the doves he said,

‘Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!’”

Jesus’ anger was very different from Ahab’s anger. Ahab’s anger was unrighteous, because it came from arrogance. Jesus’ anger was righteous because it came from love: love for God and love for people.

Unrighteous anger moves us to do unrighteous things. Ahab lay on his bed, feeling sorry for himself. In the end he murdered Nabal and stole his land.

Righteous anger moves us to do righteous things. Jesus spoke the truth to the Pharisees and continued to heal people on the Sabbath. He told his disciples to become like children and then took the children into his arms. And he cleansed the temple, so that people could come to worship in peace.

12.6 The twelfth mark of maturity: Patient←⤒🔗

The Gospels give us examples of Jesus’ anger. (We have just looked at three such examples.) But they give us even more examples of Jesus’ patience.

Jesus continued to teach and to love his disciples, in spite of their disbelief and disobedience (for example, see Mark 9:33-37). He continued to help people, even healing one of the men who had come to arrest him (Luke 22:50-51)! Finally, while he was dying on the cross, he prayed for his enemies (Luke 23:34).

Jesus was not quick-tempered. He was patient. In this way, just as in all other ways, he was just like his Father. Again and again, the Bible tells us that God is slow to anger (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8). Not only is he slow to anger. He is also quick to forgive and to show mercy (Ezekiel 18:23; Joel 2:13; 2 Peter 3:9).

What about you and me? Do we realize how patient God is with us? Do we show that same patience to the people around us? Let us remember that being patient is a mark of Christian maturity.

12.7 Patience makes us useful←⤒🔗

Hudson Taylor, the famous missionary to China, said that every missionary needs three things: 1. Patience. 2. Patience. 3. Patience! Without patience a person cannot be useful in God’s kingdom. But a patient believer can be used by God in many ways.

Proverbs 16:32 teaches this truth in a powerful way. It says, “Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior, and one who controls his temper is better than one who captures a city.” Patience is true strength. A patient person can go further, and do more, than the strongest warrior.

Do you want to lead your children in the ways of God? Then teach and discipline them patiently. Do you want to share the gospel with someone? Then be patient as you listen and talk to that person. Do you want to be a good friend, worker, spouse, or church member? Then be patient and slow to anger.

Thankfully, patience is not something that we have to learn by ourselves. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes it grow in our lives (Galatians 5:22). Slowly (and patiently!), he removes the arrogance from our hearts and replaces it with love. He teaches us to become angry for the right reasons–and even then, to be slow to anger.