Anger isn’t a problem?
Do you believe your anger isn’t a problem when you don’t hurt anybody?
If so, I have a question. If anger is not a problem, why did God tell us to put aside “all bitterness and wrath and anger” (Eph.4:31, emphasis added)?
Anger itself is not necessarily bad. Scripture tells of many times that God became angry.
So why did God tell us to put aside all anger?
Maybe it’s because our anger flows from a deceitful, self-centered heart. God’s anger is holy, because He is holy. Ours will always be contaminated because of sin. Anger affects everybody in the vicinity—even if they’re not the ones we’re mad at—just as vomiting into a fan defiles everybody in front of the fan.
Ask yourself: “What do I hope to gain by getting angry? What’s the purpose?”
Sometimes anger does get what we want. People often change their behavior to please us when we’re angry—but have you considered what it does to relationships? How is love affected? What about respect? (It may be easier to answer the questions by thinking of your response to someone else’s anger. Was your love and/or respect for that person affected?)
James tells us that “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (Jam 1:20). If James is right—and I believe He is—when you get angry, does it help accomplish your goal? As it accomplishes an immediate purpose, are you destroying an ultimate goal?
Instead of asking, “is my anger a problem?” maybe it would be better to ask, “Will I get better results with a different approach?” After all, anger does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Do you believe anger is not a problem?
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