Not all murderers are behind bars. Even churches are full of them. We all know that those who kill bodies are subject to punishment by law. Jesus tells us that it is just as much an act of murder to lash out at someone with our tongue as with our hands. A tongue can destroy lives and reputations as effectively as a tornado can wreck a town. While destruction is accomplished in minutes, restoration often takes years.

Without mincing words, Jesus says that a lashing tongue can lead us to everlasting hell. Control your anger! You have no right to dump it on anyone ... whether subtly or blatantly. Every human being that casts a shadow upon this earth is a child of God ... included in the category of the human race are also parents, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children, and neighbors. The blood of Jesus Christ ran freely for each of these people. We have no right to destroy someone whom God has declared precious by his Son’s sacrifice.

Throughout the Bible we are warned to control our temper. Only in instances of injustice are we permitted to show anger. We can be angry over one person’s unjustness to another. The Greek word behind the term for anger in the New Testament is the word orgay. Taken from the realm of nature it suggests a superabundant swelling of sap and vigor, thrusting and upsurging in nature. It connotes an impulsiveness found in all of us.

As impulsive as anger might be, it can be controlled. Saint Paul says to the church at Ephesus, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." God does not command us to achieve that which is impossible to achieve. To control our anger, we must first believe that it can be controlled and then seek God’s help in controlling it. We can control anger through the powerful presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Christ can help us defuse our fuse before we blow. He can even change us from a beast into a teddy bear. We must first want the change to take place, then seek it, and before long, with God’s help, we’ll have it.