Some people think that it’s a sin to be angry. But it’s simply a natural human response. Even God becomes angry; we see it numerous times through the Old Testament. Jesus overthrew the tables in the Temple when He found people misusing God’s house (you can read about this in Matthew 21:12). We can often find ourselves becoming angry at the suffering and injustice in the world. This is known as righteous anger. In Micah, God tells us that He expects us to ‘do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8 ESV). When others make unjust decisions, and act unkindly towards people, it can cause us to react in anger. But Paul warns us not to let that angry response turn into sin. He writes: ‘When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day.’ When we’re angry, it can be easy to say things we regret, act out of character, and hold grudges against people. But we’re called to deal with our anger in a godly way. We need to acknowledge how we feel, and see if there’s anything good we can do to help the situation. Perhaps we can take a stand against the injustice we see, make a change to how we’re living in order to counteract climate change, or give money or time to charities in order to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We can allow our anger to spur us on to make a positive change to the world. The Bible says that God’s ‘anger lasts only a moment, but his kindness lasts for a lifetime’ (Psalm 30:5 NCV). Let’s pray that we’d be the same. 

What Now?

Spend some time praying that your anger would lead you to bring positivity and kindness into the world.