Angry For God (2 of 3)

Angry For God (2 of 3)

Not all anger is bad. The problem that we have is that our emotions can lead us down the wrong path. It’s pretty easy to convince ourselves that we are being righteous when we are really just reacting to something that offends us.

We all feel righteously angry at some time or another but how do we know when our anger is right and good? Our anger does not become righteous just because we think we are right. Righteous anger pleases and honors God. So, we ask: “Does this anger bring glory to God?”

In Psalms 139, King David became angry at those who opposed God. In Nehemiah 5:6, the prophet was angered when he heard about the oppression of the poor. In Matthew 23, Jesus railed in anger against the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their abuse of the people.

In all of these scenarios, something godly took place. Sinfulness was harming others and God raised up someone to stop it. It is put into the heart of God’s people to stand up to sin and injustice.

Righteous anger always has the idea of restoration behind it. The objective is not just to punish or inflict harm. The driving motivation behind righteous anger is:

* to stop sin

* to right an injustice

* to restore someone to God.

What is your motive? Are you restoring or are you judging? Are you intent on helping someone or are you seeking revenge? Who is glorified in the end? For the Christian, God always comes first and redemption is the goal. Notice the presence of God’s grace in this passage from Ephesians 4:29:

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”