Ask a Pastor

Presenting Biblical answers to tough questions

Q: What does the Bible have to say about anger? Is it a sin to be angry?

A: The Christian’s ultimate standard for right and wrong is the character of God Himself (see Matthew 5:48 for one example). This gives us a solid basis for saying that it is not always sinful to be angry, since we are given many examples of both God and Jesus Christ becoming angry (Matthew 21:12-17; Romans 1:18). That being said, anger can lead to sin even though it isn’t always wrong to be angry. Therefore, it must be handled carefully.

A good place to start is with the question, “Is it right for me to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). Anger is a natural response to a seemingly unfair situation. However, we must test our perspective against God’s word to know whether anger is the proper response (hint; hitting your thumb with a hammer is not a good reason). If our anger is not justified, we must let it go. If it is justified, we move to the next passage.

         Ephesians 4:26 tells us not to sin when we are angry. Even justified anger can tempt us to lash out in temper or outbursts of wrath. We must exercise self-control; instead of lashing out in sin we must restrain any wrong responses and make sure that we are responding to the situation rightly.

The final passage (1 Peter 2:23-25) uses Jesus Christ as the ultimate example of self-control to show us how to lay our anger to rest. Just before His crucifixion Jesus was subjected to the cruelest provocations imaginable. He was slapped in the face. He was spit upon. The soldiers blindfolded him then hit him repeatedly. Despite all of this Jesus kept his cool and 1 Peter 2:23 tells us how He did it; “He entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.” The way that we allow anger and wrath to pass away from us is by entrusting the situation to our Heavenly Father through prayer, knowing that he will handle the situation with perfect justice, skill, and timing.

If you have a question you would like a Biblical answer to, you can send it via email to [email protected] or by mail to Formoso Church; P.O. Box 66; Formoso, Kan. 66942