Anger and Sin
Do you ever get angry? Is it okay to be angry or is it sinful to get angry?
The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26 NIV).
It seems Paul is describing a situation in which one could feel the emotion of anger yet not sin.
What’s more, the Bible is filled with references to God being angry: “The Lord’s anger burns against his people” (Isaiah 5:25 NIV).
God certainly does not sin and, in fact, is slow to anger: “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15 NIV).
So there must be some aspect of anger that is not sin. Yet the Bible also describes anger as cruel and foolish and something to be avoided:
- “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Proverbs 27:4 NIV).
- “Mockers stir up a city, but the wise turn away anger.” (Proverbs 29:8 NIV).
- “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9 NIV).
Moreover, the New Testament gives strong injunction that those who are becoming like Jesus are to get rid of all anger:
- “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV).
- “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:8 NIV).
The Motive Behind Anger
So how do we make sense of anger? How can we be instructed to get rid of all anger—and that anger is unwise and for the fools—yet God is described as getting angry?
The issue is the motive and the focus of the anger:
- Righteous anger is always motivated by love for people and focuses on destroying the disease of sin in order to heal and save people
- Sinful anger is motivated by selfishness and focuses on punishing, hurting, or destroying people while perpetuating sin and selfishness
Here is a simple example: Doctors have righteous anger toward pathogens (measles, polio, Ebola) and diseases (cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, etc.). They seek to destroy all disease and pathology to heal and save people. But doctors do not have anger toward sick and dying patients.
Of course, doctors do get angry at activities that spread disease, especially when it is purposely spread—such as HIV-infected individuals who spread the disease with dirty needles or unprotected sex. But doctors still love the addict or prostitute who is spreading the disease. It’s just that while seeking to cure those currently infected, doctors also want to prevent the spread of the disease to protect all who are not yet infected.
Doctors also offer remedies for HIV and methods to stop its spread, but when a person refuses to take the remedy and to use methods that prevent infecting others, doctors get angry not only at the disease, but they also get angry at the refusal of the person who rejects the treatment. And how much greater is the anger when the person who refuses life-saving treatment is the doctor’s own son or daughter?
Righteous Anger
Why are the doctors angry? Because they love the dying person and know they can save them, if the terminal individual would only let them.
This is righteous anger—never seeking to harm the person, but always motivated by love to heal and save, even when a person refuses healing and chooses paths that destroy themselves and others. This is the anger that God expresses.
Jesus also expressed anger at the hardness of heart that obstructed His healing love, but He still loved those whose hearts were hard:
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored (Mark 3:5-6 NIV).
And what does righteous anger, which is a manifestation of love, do to those who persistently refuse healing? It acts to restrain and to protect until the point that the person is healed or no further intervention will be helpful—and then love lets go, with sadness, and allows the person to reap what they have chosen: pain, suffering, and death. But it never retaliates. Love is angry because it didn’t have to be this way! Righteous anger doesn’t act to torture, inflict harm, or cause suffering and torment.
When Israel persistently rejected God and insisted on damaging their hearts, minds, and characters by engaging in idol worship, God—like a loving doctor whose patient refuses rehab and insists on injecting themselves with harmful substances—set them free to reap what they chose. Without God’s protecting presence enemies of all sorts came in and attacked them; they reaped what they had chosen, a life separated from God.
And God was angry because it didn’t have to be that way!
Selfish Anger
Selfish anger, however, is not motivated by love for others. Nor is it angry at the suffering that sin is causing others. Rather, selfish anger is an anger about the wrongs we experience—done to us or to what we value—not for love for others. Examples of this include:
- Anger at not getting our way
- Anger at having our ideas challenged or refuted
- Anger at having our projects and pursuits interfered with
- Anger at having our self-promotion thwarted or name maligned
- Anger at being assaulted, injured, robbed
- Anger at having been embarrassed
- Anger of envy—someone else getting what we have wanted
- Anger of perceived unfairness—someone else having more than we do
- Anger when someone questions our authority, disobeys, or disrespects us
- Anger at having not lived up to the family standard
Experiencing the emotion of this type of anger is not in itself sin, but if this type of anger is not resolved in a godly way it leads to selfish acting out either against others or ourselves—seeking to take from another, hurt another, make another person pay for the wrong they have done to us, even killing another, or turning the anger inward and injuring self with substances or even suicide. This is the anger of sin and selfishness.
If you find yourself angry, first inquire, with what am I angry? Is it because you love someone and you see them injuring themselves, or something injuring them, and you are angry at the pathology or process that is causing harm? Or are you angry at some wrong, actual or perceived, happening to you? Is your motive to act in love in order to save or heal another, or is your motive to act in vengeance—to punish or harm another?
If you find that your anger is selfish in nature, I encourage you to go to God in prayer and ask for a new heart and new motives—to give you love and help you change your perspective so that any anger you do have will be only the righteous anger of love toward the destruction of sin to bring healing to sinners.
For even more from Dr. Tim Jennings check out his book The God-Shaped Brain,
What you believe about God actually changes your brain.
Brain research in neuroscience has found that our thoughts and beliefs affect our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Mind and body are interrelated, and we are designed for healthy relationships of love and trust. When we understand God as good and loving, we flourish.
Unfortunately, many of us have distorted images of God and mostly think of him in fearful, punitive ways. This leads us into unhealthy patterns of self-defeating behaviors and toxic relationships. But our lives can change when God renews our minds with a truer picture of him.
