How to Be Angry Without Sinning – Part Two
Ephesians 4: 26, 27
Anger! You got it? Me, too. Jesus too. God the Father also. Qualify your anger and be sure it is of the Lord. There is a way you can be angry and not sin. There are two groupings of sin. Be sure yours is the right kind, and that you are not using the text for ventilating your emotions.
One, ventilation is a term used for improper anger, the losing of the temper, the blow-up kind.
The other indignation is a term for the feelings of Jesus in the temple. It is a strong displeasure over unrighteousness. Indignation means you become incensed. When it is vented toward sin it is righteous indignation and that is good. There is not enough anger expressed toward sin.
Aside from the spiritual aspect of wrong anger there is a physical side. Persons who live with an angry temperament do threaten their health. The “Dallas Times Herald” reported “A person’s hostility and anger toward others could lead to heart disease and premature death.”
Dr. Redford B. Williams of Duke University Medical Center concluded from his studies: “Individuals who harbor hostility and anger toward others are five times more likely to die from heart disease and six times more likely to die prematurely from other causes.”
Medical authorities also believe that anger increases hormone levels that may lead to hardening of the arteries.
However, Florida State University researcher, Jack Hokanson, asserts, “The myth that ventilating anger brings down tension is long gone” (Newsweek, 1993). How then can I be angry and NOT sin? The Jesus kind is indignation. Decide to be angry about things and not with people. Love people, but discern right from wrong. That is God-like. He loves the sinner, but hates the sin.
In this frame of reference, one of our primary sins is not having enough of the right anger. We have become tolerant of everything and reluctant to stand for right. Determine to be angry about the right things. Avoid simply being irritable and hyper-sensitive about personal matters. Deal with moral issues.
How then can I deal with anger?
“Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways…” (Proverbs 22: 24, 25).
In light of the scientific insight shared, comply with Proverbs 29: 11, “A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.” A modern translation reads: “A fool gives vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”
Now my anger. I was born a redhead with the reputation redheads have for temper. It wasn’t good. One day I decided God I have a temper. You gave it to me. Therefore, it can’t be bad. My use of it can be. I now dedicate it (myself) to you and ask that I might use it in a manner pleasing to you. That is my control valve. It can be yours.