pSometimes, Jesus got angry: ‘So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables’ (John 2:15 NIV). Money-changing was a system that made a daily habit of insulting God’s house. So Jesus had a right to be angry. We know He never sinned (1 Peter 2:22), so His anger definitely wasn’t sin. As our hearts become more like His, there’ll be times when our anger is justified like that, too. (Though that doesn’t mean that our human nature can never *lead* our anger to turn into sin - check Ephesians 4:26 NIV.)br /
It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that Jesus didn’t let His anger be felt by those around Him unless He knew that it was the right thing to get the situation fixed. We don’t often see Him angry. Even when He met Zacchaeus, who’d been taking advantage of people’s money (see Luke 19:1-10), He didn’t rage at him. He saw the person, first, and loved him. We just need to learn to sift through our anger - when we see a system that hurts people (or God), let that bubbling-up of anger move you to constructive action. Don’t just sit and get red-faced about it. Other times, when you know that your anger is perhaps more person-related, learn to defuse the fuse, and approach the person with love. /p
pWhat now?br /
Next time you find yourself getting angry, go into another room. Set a timer for three minutes, and pray. Figure out whether your anger is justified, or just a human niggle. Either way, ask God what you can do to bring Him into the situation./p