Meditation
ANGER IN PERSPECTIVE Dr. Joseph Stowell
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy. Hebrews 12:14
Anger is a “signal emotion.” It alerts us that something has done “tilt” in life.
Anger alerts us that justice or righteousness has been violated. That our rights and privileges have been trespassed. Anger always catches our attention. But once it catches our attention, the issue is, what should we do with it? If our anger is not responded to properly, it will quickly lead us into sin.
In Ephesians 4:26, Paul makes a clear distinction between anger and sin. Anger in and of itself is not sin. Sin is what happens when anger is permitted to manage our response to an offense. It’s like temptation and sin.
It is not a sin to be tempted; sin is what happens when temptation goes unchecked (James 1:14-15). If we remain angry and do not do what is right, sin is like a crouching beast waiting to devour us (Genesis 4:7), and Satan gets the advantage in our lives (Ephesians 4:26-27).
Anger that remains becomes spoiled and turns into the self-destructive sins of bitterness and hatred. Anger is like mayonnaise–a sandwich without it loses its edge, but if it isn’t eaten immediately, it spoils and produces major problems.
In fact, many sins are born from residual anger. Sins such as lying, gossip, slander, murmuring threatening, cursing, taking God’s name in vain, and contentious words are all products of anger gone sour. Murder, envy, immorality, division, strife, and revenge are common sins of an angry heart.
The writer of the book of Hebrews encourages us to “make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Romans 12:17-21 gives us the plan. Give the source of your anger to God, who handles wrath and justice perfectly. Then love your enemies in return. Sound radical? It is. Wonderfully radical!