Can you choose not to be angry? If somebody is really bugging you, can they “make”
you mad? Or do you have a choice? In this video, we’ll talk about what Jesus said
regarding anger. But first, I want to share an experience that I had when I wanted to
be angry. In some ways this is a little bit of a silly
story. It happened during my freshman year of college. In order to understand the background
for this story, you have to know that growing up, I was always afraid of bullies. I wanted
to learn karate so I could defend myself. But my Mom wouldn’t let me because she was
worried I would beat up my younger siblings. So, as soon as I got to college, can you guess
what the first class I signed up for was? Karate. And can you guess what the first club
I joined was? It was the Taekwondo Club. Altogether, I was spending 8 hours a week learning how
to fight. I loved it. So, by the end of the year, I was feeling
pretty tough. And I had this little daydream that I’d be walking around campus and I
would hear somebody say, “Help, help!” and I could go to the rescue. And believe
it or not, that opportunity sort of came. I was at a dance in the Wilkinson Center at
Brigham Young University and I was talking with some girls. And these guys I had never
met, they came up and they started talking to us. So, the girls left, and these guys
started saying rude things about the girls. And I started getting mad. I said, “What’s
your problem?” Then the other guy started saying more bad things and I said, “Those
girls are my friends. Why don’t you guys just get out of here if that’s your attitude?”
And one of the guys looked at me and said, “Do you want to go outside?” And I was
like yeah! And I was so excited. I was ready. I was excited. But just as I was taking the
first step outside, this little thought came into my mind, “What would Jesus do?” Bad
time to have a thought like that. But it was too late. I already had the question planted
in my mind, “What would the Savior do?” And I knew that He had said, “He that hath
the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil.” “But I’ve already
taken the first step outside,” I thought to myself. And then I’m thinking of other
verses like “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded,” for I know
the Lord prepareth the way. So, I decided at that moment, OK, I’m not
going to get angry. I’m not going to fight. But I was praying, “Lord, how am I going
to get out of this situation?” Just then, and I am not making this up, this tall guy
started walking towards us. I had never seen him before. He was wearing a black leather
jacket with spikes running up and down it. He came up and he said to the other guys,
“Are you messing with my friend?” They said, “No,” and I was like, “Ooh yeah.”
And the tall guy says, “Cause I’ve fought in bars, and I’ll smash all your heads together.”
The guy said, “We’re just leaving.” And I said, “Get out of here.” So, the
tall guy and I talked for a minute, and then he left, and I have never seen him since.
Maybe he’s one of the three Nephites. Just kidding.
But that whole experience taught me a valuable lesson. The point is, I wanted to be mad.
I felt justified in being angry. But I still chose not to be angry. We can make that choice
and not get mad even in circumstances when we feel justified in doing so.
In His Sermon at the Temple, Jesus taught “Ye have heard that it hath been said by
them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shall not kill, and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God; but I say unto you, that whosoever
is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosever shall say to
his brother, Raca (which would be like calling somebody stupid or an idiot), shall be in
danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell
fire.” I don’t get angry about situations at dances
anymore. But now I have a whole different set of temptations for getting angry, and
you probably do as well. How do we react when a child speaks rudely to us? How do we react
when someone cuts us off in traffic? How do we react when somebody disappoints us?
President Thomas S. Monson taught, “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. And I testify that such
is possible. It’s not easy, but we can choose not to
be angry. Let’s remember the words of Jesus Christ, “Whosoever is angry with his brother
shall be in danger of his judgment.” And “He that hath the spirit of contention is
not of me, but is of the devil.” As Elder Lynn G. Robbins taught, “We can
choose not to become angry. And we can make that choice today, right now. I will never
become angry again. Ponder this resolution.”