If there is one emotion that has gotten people in trouble, it is anger. Have you ever been angry and did something you later regretted? Prisons are filled with folks, who in the heat of the moment, lashed out in violence against someone else. Sometimes, it can only take a few seconds to permanently hurt others as well as yourself. The wise man writes that anger can be a "snare for your soul" (Proverbs 22:24,25). Being lulled into this trap can ruin your life.
There are two types of anger that we find in the Bible: righteous and unrighteous anger. The above verse speaks to unrighteous anger. To be angry over something that offends God is righteous. Jesus was angry with the Pharisees because they hardened their hearts toward God's offer of grace (Mark 3:5). A master was angry with his servant because he had refused to forgive a fellow servant, even though he had just received forgiveness himself for a much bigger debt (Matthew 18:34). Moses was angry with his people because they made a golden calf and worshiped it (Exodus 32:19).
But unrighteous anger is triggered by pride, selfishness, hatred, etc. God asked Jonah if he was right to be angry, implying he was not (Jonah 4:4). Jonah reacted with anger toward God and the people of Nineveh when God mercifully turned his wrath away from that repentant city. Obviously it is wrong to be angry at someone when God is not. The leper, Naaman, became angry when his pride suffered a blow. He thought Elisha ought to have come out to him instead of sending a servant, and that the Jordan river, wherein he was directed to dip, was far inferior to the rivers in his country (2 Kings 5:11,12). Though anger would be a right reaction toward the man who raped your sister, Simeon and Levi responded unrighteously to such an evil in committing mass murder (Genesis 34; 49:5-7).
When the apostle Paul wrote, Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:26,27 NKJV), he was speaking of righteous anger. This anger is right, but you must deal with it in a right way too. Don't blow up nor clam up. Do not act like Simeon and Levi as they "blew up" and sinned. But also address the situation urgently, as Jesus said, Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother (Matthew 18:15). Holding onto your righteous anger is just as sinful as releasing it maliciously.
Anger is a God-given emotion, but it must be handled correctly. It can be governed, and we can learn to not get angry or to quickly let our anger go over issues that do not offend God but our pride. Anger, as one counsellor said, is a good motivator to help us destroy problems, not people. Only God has the right to unleash his wrath on people. Speaking of unrighteous anger, God's word says to totally put it out of your life and replace it with kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness, just like God treated us. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31,32). Have you put away prideful anger? If not, then you may fall into a trap that can ruin your life.
Brotherly, Jamie
