1 Corinthians 13:5, Charity is Not Easily Provoked

1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked …

“To provoke” is “to rouse to anger or indignation.” It describes one who is short-fused. It has the idea “to irritate, to cause to be upset”. The grammatical context tells us that it is an external provocation that stirs up this anger perhaps when our expectations are not met. This charity is that God-given grace not to be easily offended in the face of provocations.

The Apostle James says in James 1:19-20 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” This man of God that shows charity can exercise good self-control over his response to provocation. He is good tempered. It is not easily irritable. He is righteous or God-honouring in his response to evil. This is often very difficult, but it shows forth a sanctified heart that results in sanctified words and actions.

In a sense, we are not speaking about righteous anger as when our Lord Jesus casts out the money changers and those that sold doves in the temple of God. Our Lord explained the grounds for his anger in Matthew 21:13 “…My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Jesus’ anger is not a sinful kind of anger. This is that kind of anger that sins not taught by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:26a. There is a righteous anger that does not incur God’s wrath. Amen.