A man was calmly going about his business for the day. Suddenly, his pulse rate shot up. The pupils of his eyes dilated. His blood pressure rose. His facial expression changed and he started to breathe rapidly. Chemical changes occurred within his body. What happened? Did he have a seizure? No, the man merely lost his temper.

When people lose their temper, a personality change occurs, and unpleasant things are almost sure to result. One young lady will never forget the time she lost her temper. It was her wedding day. As she was leaving the reception with her new husband, she had an argument with him. Then she ran him over with the car, killing him​—a tragic result from a lack of control.

The Bible, too, reports that many sins have resulted from the loss of temper. Remember, Cain “grew hot with great anger” and killed his younger brother, Abel. Then there was evil King Herod who “fell into a great rage” and had the baby boys in Bethlehem and vicinity murdered.​—Gen. 4:5-8; Matt. 2:16-18.

Remember the case of Simeon and Levi, sons of the patriarch Jacob. Their sister Dinah was raped by a young man named Shechem from a nearby city. Was that a reasonable cause for anger? Certainly. But the reaction of the brothers was extreme. They killed all the men in the city, including Shechem.​—Gen. chap. 34.

This illustrates an important point. Often there is real provocation for anger. But losing self-control can lead to words and deeds that are later regretted. Then we have not one but two problems: the original irritation and the angry reaction. Often, the outburst of temper will be remembered longer than the provocation that led to it. In the case of Simeon and Levi, which do you think had greater effect on the minds of the inhabitants of those regions​—the rape of Dinah, or the murder of all the men of the city?