Articles
Be Slow to Anger
Be Slow to Hanger
“Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” (James 1:19). Have you heard the term “hangry?” It’s a real word. It’s anger caused by hunger. Science shows that low blood sugar levels cause irritability and a short fuse. Snickers used this phenomenon for a recent ad campaign. It featured grown men acting like over-dramatic, whiny divas until they ate a Snickers. The tagline was: “You’re not you when you’re hungry. Snickers satisfies.” If you’ve ever had a waiter take an hour to bring your order, you’ve probably experienced hanger. James continues, “For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (1:20). Neither does the hanger of man.
Let’s never use hunger as an excuse to throw Christianity out the window. Proverbs 6:30-31 says, “Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry. But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; he must give all the substance of his house.” We can all understand why a man would steal when he’s hungry, but it’s still wrong to steal. Likewise, people understand why we’d have a bad attitude if we haven’t eaten all day, but it doesn’t excuse our behavior. If anyone should have been hangry it’d be Jesus in the wilderness. He didn’t eat for 40 days! (Matthew 4:2). Yet He was slow to hanger because He knew the hanger of man would not produce the righteousness of God.
