The Enemy Inside Of Us

There is a destructive force very active in the world.  One that is the cause of so much heartache, chaos, and fear.  It is a force that we all have to deal with daily.  Found at its very core is the devil.  The force is anger!  The Savior put it best when He said, "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."(3 Nephi 11: 29)  So if it is so prevalent and powerful, how can we overcome?

It is our choice to be angry.  In his talk, "School Thy Feelings, O My Brother," President Thomas S. Monson said, "To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry. I testify that such is possible."  We don't have to be angry!  That doesn't mean it is easy not to be.  We are counseled in 1 Cor. 10: 13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

 Lawrence Douglas Wilder once said, “Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but it can destroy everything.”  There is the old saying, "Anger is like taking poison and waiting for the other guy to die."  It is a powerful tool of Satan that destroys relationships.  It can hurt those most close to us.  From President Monson's talk he also wrote, "Many years ago I read the following Associated Press dispatch which appeared in the newspaper: An elderly man disclosed at the funeral of his brother, with whom he had shared, from early manhood, a small, one-room cabin near Canisteo, New York, that following a quarrel, they had divided the room in half with a chalk line, and neither had crossed the line or spoken a word to the other since that day—62 years before. Just think of the consequence of that anger. What a tragedy!"

It is hard not to be angry.  It is something I am working on.  One thing I know is that prayer is an unfailing source we can turn to.  When we need peace, I know we can turn to God.  I have, and I know He helps me so much!  If we can just trim back our anger, I know that we will find more peace on our lives.  Proverbs 16: 32 reads, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."  This is true.  If we can control ourselves, then we can make it back to God!  My prayer is that we will be able to do this.


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