Anger is a natural emotion given to us by God himself like all the other emotions. Our text indicates that there are reasons for anger as well as types of anger. The issue arises when anger is displayed sinfully. At the beginning of Christ’s ministry and at the end of his ministry, Jesus went into the temple displaying anger at the money changers who desecrated the house of God. He drove them out and turned over the tables containing money. This second time was the conclusion of his trip into Jerusalem for the beginning of the passion week. He no longer afterwards showed anger nor objection to his enemies.
Anger can be a motivating force that generates our adrenaline such as a soldier deep in battle and forced to defend himself or attack to gain vital conquests. At all times, our anger must not be without any type of control even with a reason to be angry.
Righteous anger is what Jesus displayed based on the Scriptures that the temple was intended to be a house of prayer. Those present had perverted the very place of worship for financial gain.
Reactionary anger is what God displayed throughout the Old Testament for the sins of those who were supposed to be his people. It was God’s wrath that came down on wicked men that disobeyed what they knew in their minds was God’s will.
Retribution anger is against those who have committed crimes and must face justice whether it be at the hand of man or the hand of God. Kidnapping, murder, and stealing are some examples that are intolerable in society.
Released anger is that emotion that has been repressed but eventually shouts forth as part of reckonings, as part of correcting wrong. This anger is best addressed against the issue at the time it occurs, not necessarily at a particular person. Squelching does harm to the person that was angry and the one who is the recipient of anger.
Reckoning anger can be a defense mechanism to ward off those times when the scales are balanced in the wrong way. This is a demonstration of what needs to be made right so that corrections are made during circumstances or with people.
Our Scripture does not intend to deny a person from being angry. There is a wide parameter for how a person can show anger. God understands when we experience anger. However, he expects us to experience that emotion without sinning.
We may be angry and sin by doing harm to a person physically or otherwise. We may sin if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to temper our emotions and let them get out of hand. If our venting of anger makes us appear to others that we are walking unworthy of the vocation by which God has called us, we are sinning. When we disturb the bond of peace in the spiritual community, we are sinning. If we misuse through anger the giftedness from the Holy Spirit that God allotted to us, then we are sinning. Should we allow ourselves to be manipulated by cunning enemies of the cross through false doctrine and the sleight of men, we are sinning. Should our display of anger hinder a renewal of the spirit in our mind preventing us from being the new man he wishes for us, we are sinning. If we maintain anger on a sustained basis so that the sun goes down while we are still angry, we have committed sin.
All in all, our anger must not give place to the devil in word or deed. Verse 31 says, “let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice.” Instead of these things, anger should be making a legitimate point or reckoning of what cannot be permitted, it must be accompanied by kindness and followed by forgiveness. We must not dwell on the type of anger that does harm to our spirit or the relationship with others. Sometimes we must allow ourselves to be angry privately so that later we can have the Holy Spirit be a blessing through us.
Christian Writer 