The Sin of Anger

This morning I finished another chapter in Jerry Bridges book "Respectable Sins." The chapter is about the sin of anger. He says that it is hard to define anger, but describes it in this way..

“What is anger? Many of us might say, 'I can't define it, but I know it when I see it, especially if it's directed toward me.' My dictionary defines anger simply as a strong feeling of displeasure, and usually of antagonism. I would add that it's often accompanied by sinful emotions, words, and actions hurtful to those who are the objects of our anger.” 

Bridges dismantles our idea of what “righteous anger” is. He says that “righteous anger arises from an accurate perception of true evil-that is, as a violation of God’s moral law. It focuses on God and His will, not on me and my will.” Second he says that “righteous anger is always self-controlled. It never causes one to lose his temper or retaliate in some vengeful way.” I would dare say that there are not many of us who, when we have been angry, display a righteous anger.

Bridges brings anger back to our hearts when he says, “we need to realize that no one else causes us to be angry. Someone else’s words or actions may become the occasion of anger, but the cause lies deep within us -- usually our pride, or selfishness, or desire to control.” That truth is very helpful for me. If you think about all the times you feel anger rising up in your heart, more likely you are becoming angry because of your pride, selfishness, or desire to control. We get angry because we want it our way. We get angry because our reputation or our character has been questioned. We get angry because others don’t conform to our desires.

“We cannot deal with anger until we acknowledge its presence. Then we need to ask ourselves why we became angry. Was it because of our pride or selfishness or some idol of the heart we are protecting? If so, we need to repent not only of our anger, but also of our pride, selfishness, and idolatry.”

Bridges finishes his chapter by reminding us that we need to be grounded in a belief in the sovereignty, goodness, and love of God. Ultimately He has ordained every circumstance in our lives. He, in His good providence, seeks to use all of it to conform us into the likeness of the One who bore our sinful anger on the cross.