What the Bible says About Anger

Anger is the emotional response that we have to an external or internal event perceived as a threat, a violent or an injustice.

Ephesians 4:26 (HCSB) Be angry and do not sin.

Mark 3:5 (ESV) And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Ways People Express Anger

The MANIAC

• Example: Cain

Genesis 4:5, 8 (NIV) 5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast… 8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

The MUTE

• Example: Jeremiah

Jeremiah 15:17-18 (NIV) I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? You are to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails.

The MARTYR

• Example: The Prodigals Brother

Luke 15:28 (NIV) “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.”

The MANIPULATOR

• Example: The Pharisees

Luke 6:11 (NIV) But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Bible is very specific on the cost of anger.

1. It causes arguments.

Proverbs 15:18 (NIV) A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

2. It causes mistakes.

Proverbs 14:29 (NIV) Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.

3. It causes foolish things.

Proverbs 14:17 (NIV) A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.

Psalm 137:1-9 (NIV 84) 1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. 7Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” 8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us— 9he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

He owns his anger. (verses 1-6)

He prays his anger. (verse 7)

He limits his anger. (verse 7)

Final Thought:

I must remember, I’ve still got a reason to praise.

When I’m out of faith, You are still faithful
When I’m at my worst, You are still good
In all of my questions, You are the answer
It all points to You