Exposition

The above text is a piece of advice from the wise king, Solomon. It says a fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. A choleric is naturally hardworking, confident, bold and a born leader. These characteristics enable such persons to attempt things that other people would not want to try. Such individuals can have strong faith and dare to work hard for the Lord and a typical example is the Apostle Paul.

However, choleric persons can sometimes be very violent, revengeful, hard, difficult and inconsiderate. They can be very domineering in most situations. If they are leaders, it becomes very difficult to please them. For example, the Apostle Paul has been described by many theologians as a choleric who would attempt everything for the Lord at his peril. Nonetheless, there were times that he found it difficult to forgive others, arguably raining curses upon Alexander the CopperSmith (2 Tim. 4:14), and also decided that he wouldn’t allow John Mark to join them in their second missionary journey because he had deserted them in Pamphylia (Acts 15:38).

Nonetheless, if one continues to commune with the Holy Spirit and allow himself to be controlled by Him alone, these temperamental traits can be turned into something useful. At the tail end of his ministry, Paul again found Mark useful and invited him (2 Tim. 4:11). That is why he tells us to walk in the Spirit so that we will not satisfy the desires of the flesh.