Think of a recent time you got angry. What would you say caused you to get angry?

In James 4:1, James identifies the real cause of our anger. What does he say is the cause?

Is this something inside or outside of you?

At this point an objection may be forming in your mind. "I wouldn't be angry if the thing outside of myself didn't happen." That is true. But we must be careful to hear James at this point. The things that happen outside of you aren’t the cause of your anger; they are the context of your anger. Anger always takes place within a context. But the context is not the cause. God tells us through His spokesperson James that the cause of our anger is the passions that are at war within us.

In verse 2, James continues by explaining this anger causing war within. Notice the two parallel statements.

What are the two factors that lead to murder, fights and quarrels?

Anger begins with a desire. You want something. But this is no ordinary desire. Look at the parallel statement. This desire is a covetous desire.

How does Paul describe covetousness?

‘Covetousness is desiring something so much

that you lose your contentment in God.’

In other words, you are covetous when you say to yourself that God is not enough. Covetousness directs us away from God to something else as the source of our satisfaction.

The second part of the anger formula is a failure to get what we want.

We get angry when we don’t get what we want, or when we can’t get it. Think back to your angry situation. What was it you wanted that you couldn't get?

What I hope you are starting to see is that your anger is fundamentally a God problem. It is caused by your covetous desires, which we have seen is idolatry. In other words, your anger is the overflow of your misdirected worship.

Your anger is the flashing warning light that tells you that you have turned away from God in your heart. It is the symptom of your failure to relate properly to God.

James continues by highlighting two ways we fail to relate to God when we are angry.

How do the following people relate to God in their anger?

How do the following people relate to God in their anger?

So we have two descriptions of the way we relate to God when we are angry. God is either forgotten or used. What they both have in common is that God is not God. 

James concludes his diagnosis of the cause of our anger with a charge.

This charge confirms that we have followed James' teaching correctly. Angry people are adulterous people.  James doesn’t mean that we are running around cheating on our husbands or wives. No, he means we are running around cheating on God. James is speaking in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets.  We are God’s people. He is our husband. Our idolatry is equivalent to spiritual adultery.

Just in case you haven’t quite got the point yet, let me say it one more time. Your anger is rooted in your idolatry. It says that you have turned away from God in your heart.

James continues with a warning. Our anger tells us we are in a place of danger. Look at the verse below. What is the danger of anger?

In verse 5, James backs up his point from the Old testament.

Don't go searching the Old Testament for James' quote. You won't find it. James is giving us a summary of Old Testament ideas. He probably has in mind passages like Exodus 20:5. 

Do you hear James’ warning? God is a jealous God. He will not stand idly by while His people worship and serve idols. He will bring judgment. Your anger flows from your idolatry, therefore your anger tells you that you are in great danger.

James didn't write these words to condemn you. He wrote them to warn you so that you would turn back to God before it is too late. In verse 6, he writes words of hope for guilty idolators.

We make God our enemy when we forsake Him for idols, but He gives more grace. This is the gospel here. God welcomes us back. He offers us forgiveness. We don’t deserve it, but that is what grace is: God’s undeserved kindness.

Look at verse 6 again. Who does God give grace to?

Do you want God’s grace? Then humble yourself.

In verse 10 James repeats his call to humility. Sandwiched between these two calls are 7 commands that show us what humility looks like. Read the seven commands below and then slowly pray though them in relation to your anger. 

In this meditation we have seen that our anger is caused by our idolatrous desires. We have also seen that God is willing to forgive and offers us more grace if we will humble ourselves before Him.

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