And to this question, Jesus turns His attention and ours in this passage before us. At the end of chapter 5, Jesus presents sort of a summary statement of where He is so far. That's because once anger rises up in us, we linger there. There is an act of the will in anger that makes it so deadly that Jesus places says its elimination is essential for kingdom goodness. We may even become an angry person, someone for whom rage is never far beneath the surface.
Most people carry around a supply of anger that they can tap into whenever they want it.
Now listen carefully, because this is very important. We indulge anger because anger not waved off has within it an element of self-righteousness and vanity. Find a person who has embraced anger and you will find a person with a wounded ego and a chip on their shoulder. And they are enjoying it. In self-righteousness, our real or imagined wound gets blown all out of proportion by those who indulge anger.