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Real Devotional 24

by David Joynt on May 24, 2022


JAMES 1:21 | 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

Anger is deceptive: it feels so strong when we indulge in it. This is called catharsis, by releasing a strong emotion we have a momentary release from the pressure of controlling ourselves. But vindication soon leads to shame, regret, and complications. Cathartic anger weakens us, patterning our neural circuitry to reinforce such expressive explosions, and it produces reactions in others that harm relationships and complicate communication. When others fear our anger they cannot be authentic around us and we need others to be our reality checks.

For our words to be salvific, like God’s are, our words must align with His. By resisting anger, or as James says, sordidness and wickedness, we make room for His truth and goodness.

Do you know anyone who regularly purges their anger?

How does this impact you?

Tags: anger

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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