Righteous anger

By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo

Mark 3:5 "He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored."_ -NIV

Anger is an emotion that every human has. It is provoked by things we are not happy with. God gets angry too. We read of this throughout the Bible. It was, and is always directed against evil in its different forms. Jesus exhibited anger a number of times against those who deliberately twisted and sought to overturn the truth to promote evil. Mark reports how distressed He was at the stubborn hearts of the religious people to belief, insisting that He should not heal on the sabbath.

What angers us is important to identify. Some anger is in defense of ones ego and pride, towards acts of injustice, or out of personal frustration of sorts. As God’s people, we identify with His emotions. What pleases or angers Him should likewise please or anger us. The more we choose to live for Him, the more our hearts are aligned to His. We hate evil and rejoice in righteousness, truth and justice.

Anger, if not controlled and properly channelled, can be destructive. The devil takes advantage of it to cause us to sin. This is why the Bible says we should be angry but not sin. There is need for self control. But if channelled to righteous causes, anger can be a driving force to make things right, fight injustice and promote good. Many transformational changes in society have been ignited by anger at the bad state of affairs which drove the agents of change to take action. _

Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."_ 

Shalom children of God.