“In your anger do not sin”
Summary: There is a right way to be angry and a wrong way. Most of the time, we humans end up doing it the wrong way.
Why do we sin when we get angry?
Years ago, I was told that anger is a “secondary emotion.” “What is a secondary emotion’?,” you ask. Good question!
A “secondary emotion” is triggered by a primary emotion, like fear. For example, when a child does something they are not supposed to, like touching a hot stove, the first reaction a parent feels is fear: Fear that the child might be hurt. The secondary reaction is anger at the child doing what they are not supposed to do.
It seems silly that a parent would get angry at a child for getting hurt, but that is how many parents are wired. The same is true for other situations that cause fear.
Suppose you ask a coworker for help, and they don’t want to give it to you. Inside they feel guilty for not helping, but on the outside, they get angry at you for asking. The anger is a secondary response to the guilt.
Another interesting thing about anger is that it causes a chain reaction in the brain that shuts down the prefrontal cortex. The result is that we lose our ability to make good decisions. When emotions run high, not thinking straight means we do things we shouldn’t.
Anger unchecked leads to sin.
Speaking of sin, how does God define sin again? Sin is separation from God, rebellion against God, and missing the mark. And what is the “mark?” The “mark” is outlined in Matthew 22:37-40. In short, love God above all else and your neighbor as yourself.
How do we sin when we are angry?
There is anger that doesn’t lead to sin, but it is a very specific kind of anger. It is a righteous anger that perfectly aligns with God’s will (See Numbers 25: 1-13). Any deviation from righteous anger* is a sin because we put our own feelings above God and our neighbor. How can that not be a sin?
I said that anger was a secondary emotion. The cure for human anger is to take a shortcut and go right to the source of the hurt. Deal with that effectively, and you won’t have to deal with being angry.
Application: Love God above all else and your neighbor as yourself.
Food for Thought: Why did God give us anger?
*I corrected the text. It originally said “human anger” but that doesn’t make any sense. We deviate from righteous anger when we sin. – je
Good devotion this morning. Anger is something I have spent alot of my life battling, thinking about, praying about, meditating on. It can be a prison cell if you let yourself live in it. It can also just be what it meant to be, an inner sign of some type of injustice. A deviation from what is righteous.
A wiser person than me once said “where there is anger, there is hurt, where there is hurt there is love.” It is the initial trespass of love that conjures the anger.
I like your example of the child and the stove. “How can I protect you if you won’t trust me?” Wow, how many times has the Lord said that to me? The difference between our anger and Gods anger is that when we feel the initial injustice, an element of pride gets mixed in. Of inner or outer self-preservation. That brings the fear that you speak of, at least, in my perspective.
I like the wisom of James 1:19-20
James 1:19-20 Know this, my beloved brothers: 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.
I reference these two verses alot, I know. They are casted into my shield of faith.
Quick to hear. Submission. Humility. Listening for the Holy Spirits guidance, listening for truth. Not just what we are recieving with our eyes and ears, but also the truth of whats going on inside us.
Slow to speak. Not swallowing. Not bottling up our emotions. Just giving the Spirit time to work, and speaking the truth in love. There is a greater comfort in knowing that one spoke the truth in love, and if it is rejected, that one spoke in faith.
Slow to anger. That means that one can be angry. But that type of anger is a private anger, one that you or I can talk about with Jesus. One He can confort us in, because it is rooted in a truth. The dissonance between wanting love and not recieving it. The redemption from that anger is then given to us by His love.
I was enraged for a very long time for how I was treated as a child. I am no longer enraged by it. What changed? Certainly not my past. I have been given comfort through the Great Councillor. He walked me through the events and my emotions. He led me to a place just for He and I. A place where I can feel the love above the trespass. Where love is greater than trespass.
Why did God give us anger? We are made in His image. Created to love. Hurt when we are not.
Chris,
I’m glad that you found today’s meditation helpful! I especially like your comment about anger when you write: “It can be a prison cell if you let yourself live in it.”
That is so true!
Why did God give us anger?
I don’t believe anger is inherently bad. Scripture doesn’t say, “stop being angry”. It says, “in your anger do not sin”
Sin is bad, therefore God tells us to stop it. Even though we aren’t capable of a sinless life. So I don’t think he omits the command to not be angry because we are incapable of not getting angry.
I think primarily anger is most righteous in the context of justice, or rather injustice. When we are angry that justice was not done. Angry because someone broke God’s law. Angry because someone has done a detestable thing in God’s eyes.
The old covenant gives us a big glimpse of where God’s boundaries are. The closest blood relative is responsible to take care of the murderer of their relative. Does he say to do it in anger? No, but I’m sure some righteous anger helps you track him down!
Justice is easier if you have righteous anger. Stoning an adulterous couple…. if you didn’t have righteous anger against their sin and breaking off covenant with their spouses, that task might’ve been impossible.
We don’t live in the same situation as the ancient Israelites. So what then? Let’s take your example of a child burning their hand on the stove. If the parent is stuck in fear they could be paralyzed from action. If they aren’t jumpstarted into action, would the wound be treated? Would they discipline the child or just worry?
In your anger, do not sin.
Most of all…. because He made us in His image, and God does have anger. It’s only because of the Fall that we use it wrong.
T&A –
Good comments and great summation! “It is only because of the Fall that we use it wrong.”
07-17-2023, Why did God give us anger?
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22, Jesus expressed righteous anger and cleared the Temple of God into a commercial enterprise as they made a mockery of Gods house of worship.
Ephesians 4:26-27, In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
We see God created us with the ability to express anger, and the ability to control it. In our worldly state, we chose to live controlled by our flesh and we will certainly misuse every gift God has given us. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that any person can live in obedience to God. Christ in us is the power to exercise our free will, our emotions and live our lives as God has intended for us.
John 15:4-5, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Ron,
Great Scriptures! I appreciate how you point us to our need for Christ to guide us in managing our anger.
I agree with the other well thought out comments today.
Anger is an emotion that can be good. When a child is kidnapped and sold into the sex trade, we should be angry. Anger at that moment could lead to taking action to save the child. It is both loving what God loves and loving our neighbor – as long as the action that is taken is sincerely toward protecting the innocent child and no more than that.
Rich,
Thank you! You provide an illustration of anger providing the impetus for correcting a tragic and terrible wrong. This is where God’s righteous anger and man’s echo of that anger overlap.
General comment:
Gold stars to all today! 🙂
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I learned something from each of your comments and I appreciate the insights shared. Thank you!