How To Be Angry Without Regret (Part 1)

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
The Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus

 

God gets angry. 
But His anger is sinless. 

 

I envy this about God.

 

It seems to me that God can be angry freely and sinlessly.  He can express it without the fear of going too far, or being wrong like we often are when we are angry.  Sometimes we get angry too quickly and find out that what we thought was happening wasn't happening at all.  We've misunderstood yet once again. 

 

What if we could be as free in being angry as God is? 
I believe we can. The Apostle Paul shows us the way in four steps.

 

1. BE ANGRY.
Imagine what Paul is saying, even commanding.  Imagine the freedom to be angry, and where this freedom comes from.  It comes from an understanding of what anger is and what anger's purpose is.


Anger is intense displeasure towards evil or wrong doing. 
It's purpose is justice, to expose and undo unrighteousness and establish righteousness. 


Isn't this why God gets angry?  If He sees a baby being abused, doesn't this make Him angry, and doesn't He want to stop the abuse?  This is the proper place of anger.  In this way, and in this way only, are we encouraged and even commanded by Paul to be angry. 

 

2.  DO NOT SIN.
This is the difference between sinful and sinless anger:

Sinful anger is quick, uncontrolled, and unjust.
Sinless anger is slow, controlled, and just.

We are commanded by James, the  brother of Jesus, to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."  God is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."  God's anger "is for a moment, but His mercy endures forever." 


Yes, God gets angry, and His anger is intense, but He is not immediately or quickly angry. He is not rash or reactionary when He is angry.  His anger is slow, controlled, and just.  In other words, it is an informed anger.  His dealings with Sodom and Gomorrah is an example. 




God told Abraham that He had come down to see if the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah that had come up to Him was true.  If so, then He would know.  So before God became angry and expressed anger, He sought to be informed. Before He judged, He investigated.




Another example is how He dealt with Nineveh through the prophet Jonah.  He gave Jonah this message:  In 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed.  Why 40 days?  Because God is patient, and gives us the way to be slow to anger through this example.


The key to being slow to anger, or patient, is to set a limit on our patience.   God's patience is not indefinite, but has a limit.  So should ours.  In setting a limit on our patience, and in being informed about situations of wrong, we can be angry without sin, and we can avoid another danger of sinful anger. (Click HERE for part 2)