Anger and Me

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."

Hebrews 4:14-15

Every person alive knows what it feels like to be angry.  Frustration at failure, feeling picked on or making mistakes can result in a white-hot rage that makes the blood boil.  Releasing this anger through words or throwing things does nothing to calm us within and leads to more regrettable behaviour than our excuse for it.  We would like to claim all our anger is a result of justifiable righteous indignation, yet no one but God can rightly make this claim.  It is not a sin to be angry, yet when we justify remaining angry it always results in sin.

Ephesians 4:26-27 says, "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷ nor give place to the devil."  When we justify sinful anger we open ourselves up to follow in the proud footsteps of Satan rather than our great High Priest Jesus Christ who sympathises with our weaknesses, was in all points tempted, and He remained without sin.  In the moment of anger we imagine no one could possibly feel as angry as we do and thus justify us taking action accordingly.  The writer of Hebrews said we ought to hold fast our confession of faith in Jesus Christ, having put off the corrupt ways of living and thinking which mark the unregenerate and then, as Ephesians 4:23-24 says, "...be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."

Walking in holiness is not living with a serene smile plastered on your face without experiencing feelings like anger or grief.  To the contrary:  before we were born again we were without feeling--without godly conviction of sinful boasting, anger, greediness and uncleanness.  After being born again by faith in Jesus we now have a heart of flesh that enables us to learn to feel, think and order our lives after true righteousness and holiness, not self-confidence and pride.  People who once were marked with the character trait of being easily angered can by God's grace and wisdom be slow to anger and be longsuffering by personal transformation through the Gospel.  No self-help book or seminar can change you from what you are.  It is by acknowledging our sin in light of God's righteousness and repentance God changes us and gives us wisdom not to give place to the devil through anger.

Like greed, anger cannot be satisfied.  All the rage man unleashes upon others and himself will provide rest for his troubled soul nor free him of bondage to pride and folly.  Praise the LORD Jesus understands how we feel even when we are at our angriest, and He remains without sin.  This proves He is able to help us walk wisely and uprightly, to experience feelings of anger without sin because He has provided atonement for us.  God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?"  May our hearts be humbled at this question and repent because most times the honest answer is, "No.  I'm angry because I am all about me."