IS IT RIGHT FOR YOU TO BE ANGRY?

In Ephesians 4:26, Paul says, “Be angry and do not sin.” This might be a passage that we easily misuse. I think we easily justify ourselves that our anger is acceptable. So, we need to stop and break down this teaching that Paul is giving us.

We should start by realizing that the emotions we feel are God-given emotions. Anger is one of those emotions that God has given to every person. We feel anger because God gave us that capability. We also realize that there are things that we should be angry about. We should be angry to see an innocent person harmed by a wicked person. We should be angry when there is murder, rape, and abuse. We should feel anger when there is a school shooting. There is anger when we see injustice happen.

But we even must be careful about this because sometimes are emotions are incorrect and ungodly. Can you think about times in your life when you were angry when you should not have been? Have you ever been angry because of something someone said? It is not some injustice that we ought to be angry about. We just did not like what the person said. Have you ever been angry because you had to stand in line? That is not an injustice but selfishness. We do not like what is going on. So, we need to see that just because God gave us an emotion does not mean that it has been perfectly trained to respond at the right times.

God gave a good example of how this can happen through his prophet Jonah. Jonah was sent to go preach to the large city of Ninevah. But Jonah did not want to preach to them because he felt that they were worthy of judgment, but Jonah reluctantly goes and preaches to the city and the people repent and obey the Lord. Notice what we are told in Jonah 4:1, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.” Look at verse 4. “The Lord asked, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” We need to see that not all anger is good anger. The Lord is asking Jonah if his anger is right with the implied answer that it is not. A little later Jonah went out of the city and sat under a plant that was giving him shade. But God made a worm eat the plant so that it withered and made scorching wind come and beat on Jonah’s head. Listen to Jonah. “And he asked that he might die and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’” (4:8). God asks Jonah the same thing again. “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant.” Now listen to Jonah. “Yes, it’s right! I’m angry enough to die!” (4:9).

What we do with our anger is typically sin. We usually blow up. We usually vent our anger. Even if our anger is right, which often it is not, what we do with our anger is sin. This is what Paul means when he says in verse 27 to not give opportunity for the devil. The reason we need to stop wearing angry clothes is because we are making a large space in our lives for the devil to walk into and tempt us to serious sins.

So, what does it look like to put on the new clothes? Paul says that we are not let the sun go down on our anger. Immediate reconciliation is what we are offer when we are angry. If something is bothering you and you have the right to be angry, then do not let the day go by without dealing with that situation. Handle the situation you are in immediately. Do not handle it sinfully. Calmly and clearly seek to solve the problem. Look for reconciliation. But I hope that we see what this means. This means that we have control over our anger. There is no such thing as someone making you so angry that you did what you did. You have complete control over your anger because God has told you not to sin with your anger.

~Brent Kercheville