Nowadays an angry man is seen as a destructive man. We’re told to eradicate this from our lives. Rightfully so, many men are know more for their destructive anger than for being pacifist. It seems that men fall on one side or another on a spectrum when it comes to anger. We’re either destructive in anger or passive and indifferent. Very rarely will someone say, “that man is rightfully anger and I admire that in a man”.
We’ve been conditioned to believe all anger is bad. We’re not allowed to feel angry because when we do, we become unpredictable and destructive. Today I want to propose that there is a place and time for all the emotions our Creator has given us ( Ecclesiastes 3 ). Specifically verse 13 states “a time to love and a time to hate” . Pretty strong words considering we’re told to always be loving and docile. Let’s examine the difference between sinful anger and righteous anger.
Sinful anger is rooted in pride. It’s the anger we feel when someone has “wronged” us. It’s the anger that builds when we feel someone needs to make something right with us because we deserve it. How can we tell the difference? 2 Corinthians 12:20 tells us that anger which comes from our sin nature produces “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder”. In essence the very opposite attributes of a Godly nature.
Contrast this to righteous anger in which God is placed first. Notice how it’s righteous anger not anger righteous. There’s a huge difference between both because God’s anger is a byproduct of his righteousness. This means that because God is only good and holy, any perversion of his goodness or holiness, he considers evil. Establishing what is right with something that is wrong is a direct assault to God. Therefore, as his children, anger is righteous when we are angered over evil that profanes God’s holiness and perverts his goodness.
Distinguishing and living out the difference between both of these can be difficult and many have failed. The reason is that we are still in the flesh and struggle with this. Even Paul acknowledged in Romans 7:15-20 “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature”. This means we will never be perfectly angry in this age but there will be times to act and always operate from the Spirit.
Encouragement:
As long as we’re in this world, there will always be struggle but we are already victorious. We must learn to operate from the Spirit in order that our actions are in accordance with His will.
FX3 Daily D::
What should Christ focused righteous anger look like in us?
Read: We must first evaluate ourselves and our facts before acting. We ask God to reveal our true source of anger.
Pray: Because righteous anger is governed by God’s love, we must also be slow to anger, grieved by the wrong, and merciful.
Meditate / Make It Real: Pure evil acts require us to be quick to speak to and/or act upon. These are definitive wrongs such as the slaughter of unborn children, ethnic and economic injustice, abuse of children and adults, sex trafficking, human slavery, adultery, persecution and etc. Very important is that we not sin in the process (break the law, give a bad testimony, stir up hatred, etc. (Ephesians 4:26 )
