Is there such thing as righteous anger in the Bible? Yes
Do you have it? Probably not.
Let me explain.
In the Bible, mainly in the Old Testament, we see God get angry. God is perfect. Therefore, with a little bit of applied logic, anger in itself is not sinful. But, this is a huge but mega but, the biggest but you can think of (keep your mind clean here, fellas), BUT we are not God. We are not perfect. So, is there such a thing as us having righteous anger? Possibly. Maybe. Probably not. Reacting in anger is most likely never the answer.
Let me explain.
When Jesus came to earth, we got a perfect example of Who God is. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). As fully God and fully man (however that works), we naturally see Jesus’ emotions. He was happy. Joyful. Tired. Amazed. Compassionate. Sad. And, you guessed it, angry. I know, I know, well if Jesus expressed it and He is perfect, then it’s okay if I get angry too, right? It depends. But probably not.
Did Jesus show righteous anger?
One of the most memorable (and coolest) moments where we see Jesus’ anger in action is when He cleared the temple. Shady men infiltrated the house of the LORD and ripped people off as they came in to make their offerings. Jesus took one look at the corrupt scene and turned the place upside-down. He even made a whip to drive out both man and beast. I would love to have been there.
Now, let’s put ourselves in Jesus’ sandals. We walk into church one day, and some crooked folks are up to no good. Their ungodly acts make you angry. In your (possibly) righteous anger, you start flipping over tables and cracking the whip you always keep in the back of your truck. So far, you’ve only done what Jesus did, right? Probably not.
Let me explain.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of sin in Jesus’ motivation, intentions, thoughts, words, or actions. Everything He did in the temple was holy. If you or I were in Jesus’ place, sin would enter the picture at some point during our temple clearing. Maybe we’d like the way people became afraid of us, even think bad thoughts about the people we cleared out. Or, we’d become arrogant at the way we were able to clear the whole place by ourselves. Maybe we’d catch some girl giving us the “eyes” while we cracked the whip and think something we shouldn’t about her. Or maybe one of a million other sins that creep up on us so fast we barely notice. In that instant, our “righteous” anger becomes self-righteous anger. Or, as it is more commonly known, plain anger.
I know you get angry sometimes. So do I. There may even be occasions where it feels like righteous, justified anger. It’s probably not. We’re simply too flawed to maintain holy anger. Our best bet is to try and eliminate all anger. Better to be a man of self-control than anger (Proverbs 16:32).
Are you leading your kids with action?
I know you get angry sometimes. So do I. There may even be occasions where it feels like righteous, justified anger. It’s probably not. We’re simply too flawed to maintain holy anger. Our best bet is to try and eliminate all anger. Better to be a man of self-control than anger (Proverbs 16:32).
