When you play a game, sometimes it can lead to a win and sometimes it can lead to a loss. There are two different possible outcomes. But, in the Bible, there is a choice that we can make that the Bible says “leads only” to one place, and it gives us a clear warning.
Look at Psalm 37. It talks about God’s people facing “evildoers” (37:1, 9), and twelve times identifies them as “the wicked,” emphasizing the challenges and persecutions that they bring upon the righteous. It can be easy to allow our “anger” and “wrath” to be stirred and stoked. But, note, in verse 8, these three imperatives—(1) “Cease from anger,” (2) “Forsake wrath,” (3) “Do not fret.” That’s a lot easier said than done! But then the Lord gives this warning: “It only causes harm” or “It leads only to evildoing.”
Anger, wrath and fretting do not lead to any good place! In fact, the simple definition of the last term is that anger, wrath and fretting ONLY lead us “to be bad.” In other words, it’s a “game” in which you lose every time!