Anger has always been a part of my life.
I was an angry child.
I was an angry teen.
I was an angry adult.
I still wrestle with anger.
At times it gets the best of me.
But there are victories in life and one of the victories I see as Christ’s nature continues to become my own is victory over anger.
He continues to overtake me and wash over me which causes my anger to be like a wave crashing into the shore only to dissipate into foam.
Paul wrote a very practical thought and activity of Christian living when he penned, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” The verse tells us a few things about anger.
There is a time to be angry. Anger is not a primary emotion. It is driven by other things. Knowing what drives anger is certainly advantageous to us. Anger in general is deceptive. But identifying the source of anger enables us to discover a solution. Four things that drive anger are: Hurt, Injustice, Fear and Frustration.
If we consider our times of anger carefully, we will discover that most of our anger is driven by these four situations. Although knowing the source of anger helps considerably in resolving an issue, there is a question we need to ask ourselves when we feel anger: “How does this affect the character and honor of God?” James 1:19-20 says, “Know this, my beloved brethren: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Anger that is just about us individually will lead to destruction since it cannot achieve the righteousness of God. But anger that exists because it affects the honor and character of God leads to His glory. Your anger is not right if it is just about you.
There is a way to be angry. One Sabbath day Jesus was in the synagogue and discovered a man with a withered hand. He asked the people if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath and when no one responded he, “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” The way to be angry is to mingle grief with it. We often get angry over sin, as well we should, but is that anger aimed at the person? Often we want to crack their skull and pour in a little wisdom. But the response of Jesus is helpful. His anger was driven by grief because of their hardness of heart. Grief is a love word. When you lose something or someone that you love you grieve. This love should drive us to pray for the person who has angered us rather than let their sin drive us to rage or bitterness.
The time of anger should be short. John Piper writes, “Anger, for all its possible legitimacy, is a dangerous emotion and should not be nurtured into a grudge. Anger is the moral equivalent of biological adrenaline. It is good and healthy to experience periodic secretions of adrenaline in reaction to dangerous situations. But a steady flow would damage the heart. So with anger. It has damaged many hearts because it was not put away, but nurtured again and again into a life-destroying grudge.”
So be angry when the honor and character of God are at stake. Be angry but add grief to it in order to temper the anger from becoming rage or bitterness. Be angry but not for long. Otherwise, your emotions will become the playground of the Devil.
