What causes a short temper?

Galatians 5:19-21When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

James 4:1-2What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

Our sinful nature can cause a short temper when things don’t go our way or when we don’t get what we want. Often this reveals a lack of trust in God.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-9Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.

Impatience brings our anger to the surface and makes us look foolish.

James 1:19-20Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

Pride shortens our tempers. When we are proud, we are quick to reject others’ advice and are easily angered when they disagree with us.

Proverbs 27:4Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

Jealousy can hide beneath a hot temper.