“Frederick Buechner points out that “Of all the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel, both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back — in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you”” (Wishful Thinking, Harper & Row, 1973, p. 2; quoted at preaching.com).
Anger is a destructive and debilitating emotion and the Bible frequently warns against it. The Lord Himself taught that unchecked anger often leads to other serious sins like murder (Matthew 5:21-26). In His parable about the lost son, Jesus revealed that it was the older brother’s anger that kept him from rejoicing over the return of his brother and to reject his father’s pleas to celebrate (Luke 15:25-30). Outbursts of anger are included in Paul’s list of the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:20). In another place, the apostle says this: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31; cf. also Colossians 3:8).
So is anger always sinful? Apparently not because Jesus Himself became angry. He looked with anger at hardhearted Pharisees who took Him to task for healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5). This teaches us that there are some things in this world that should make us angry. But the key is to not let our anger lead us to react sinfully. “BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Ephesians 4:26). Be “...slow to speak and slow to anger…” (James 1:19). Remember: “...the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). Be very careful with anger!
God loves you!
Mike
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