Anger.

"A hot-tempered man gets starts fights and gets into all kind of sin."

-Proverbs 29:22 NLT

"Don't be quick-tempered, for anger is the friend of fools."

-Ecclesiastes 7:9 NLT

"Anger punishes itself."

-Anonymous

"Anger is a bad counsellor."

-French Proverb

"An angry man is again angry at himself when he returns to reason."

-Publius Syrus

"Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest."

-Malabar Proverb

"When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry."

-Thomas Haliburton

"A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood."

-Proverbs 26:21 NLT

Our world today is simply falling apart. Impatient people with short-fuses driving to jobs they hate so they can make money to pay for things they don't need are constantly on-edge and ready to explode at any moment. Road rage is everywhere. Child abuse is at an all-time high. And anger is everywhere! It's in our schools. At our jobs. In our communities and homes. It's everywhere!

Sparked by anger, violence is not only a global thing, it's right next door. It's at work and at school and on the athletic fields. It's at home! It's everywhere! Teachers are in danger as are students. Gangs threaten our cities. Terrorists are living among us. Wars are everyday news and things are not getting any better.

I read in Charles Swindoll's book, "The Finishing Touch," about this unbelievable act of anger:

". . . the final straw of shock came when I read of the murder of John White in a quiet neighborhood in southwest Cleveland. The killer? A 19-year-old hired by White's two kids. That's right. His 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter paid $60 to have their own father killed. The daughter, by the way, waited in another room until the fatal shot was fired.

"Then what? Well, the teenagers paid off the murderer, then hid the body in a back room of the house. After that they used their dad's credit cards to go on a 10-day spending spree. They spent some $2,000 on televisions, video games, bicycles, and other amusements and entertainments. While their father's body was decaying in the utility room, they were cooking meals in the kitchen a few feet away and enjoying themselves in the living room.

"After being caught, they openly confessed the entire, bizarre event. When asked why, they answered: 'He wouldn't let us do anything we wanted.' The dad had angered the kids by trying to enforce an evening curfew and by not allowing them to quit school or 'smoke pot.' So they had him killed."

The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, penned these words of warning, "You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

The words "difficult times" mean, in the Greek, "fierce, harsh, savage, hard to deal with." Today we live in difficult times and anger is much of what fuels the fires. At home and around the world, people are angry and things are ready to explode.

The Bible offers much wise counsel as we deal with anger. " . . . don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27).

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).

It's not always easy but it is always worth the effort.

Even in the midst of all the anger, bitterness, and violence in the world, there is hope. Paul says all this will happen " . . . in the last days . . . ." Jesus is coming again and every day . . . we're one day closer. These days are simply reminders of how close.

Look up!