Many Christians are confused about anger. They think that as godly individuals they should never get angry. They wonder why they keep having to deal with anger when it’s something they don’t want to feel. Anger can be an involuntary response whether we want to feel it or not. A person with damaged emotions from past trauma or abuse may, and probably will, respond in a self-protective mode and display anger more eaisly than someone who was never mistreated. Thankfully, through God’s help those damaged emotions can be healed, and we can learn to have more balanced and reasonable responses to people, things and situations.
Not all anger is a sin, but some of it is. The Bible speaks of a rightesous anger that even God Himself has. It is anger against sin, injustice, rebellion, petiness and other such things.
God’s Word says, “When angry, do not sin”(Eph. 4:26); and Proverbs 16:32 says, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, he who rules his [own] spirit than he who takes a city.” I recall one morning as I was preparing to go to preach, Dave and I got into an argument. I was studying and he said something to me that made me blaze up quickly with anger. We said some unkind words to each other and then he left for work. I continued to think angry thoughts and have angry feelings. Then my anger turned into guilt and I started thinking, How can I possibly go to church and tell others hot to conduct lives according to Scripture if I cannot control my anger? The feelings of guilt not only continued but they intensified. As the pressure mounted, I started to feel almost frantic when suddenly I heard God whisper in my heart, Anger is no a sin; it is what you do with it that becomes sin. That was one of the first lessons God gave me in understanding that emotions cannot be expected to merely go away because we have become Christians, but rather we are to learn how to manage them.
Ephesians goes on to say, “Do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down” (4:26). When we do hold on to anger, it gives the devil a foothold in our lives (see v.27). This scripture has been lifechanging for me by helping me learn more about emotions and what to do with them.
Comment