Can anger be righteous?

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As I was reading The Daily today, I stopped to think again about my own anger, and the anger of Jesus. I wanted to share some of my thoughts, and invite you to share some of yours:

Perhaps it’s a reflection of my own lack of grace for my neighbor, but I have struggled less with the anger of God than many of my friends. Between my own predisposition toward wanting justice, and being exposed at a young age to the deep suffering of others, I have always been comforted by the promise that God is the ultimately just one who is as angry at injustice as I am.

I was reminded recently of the story of a family friend who experienced visceral anger of both a destructive and protective kind. He was the lead pastor of a church and found out that, for years, his daughter had been abused by another pastor. Understandably, he felt betrayed and enraged by the horrific harm that his friend had caused to his child. In a blind rage, he loaded a gun and drove to the abuser’s house, ready to kill him. As he pulled into the driveway, he felt the intense conviction of the Holy Spirit to leave the vengeance to God, and ultimately called the police and went home.

In a sense, our friend’s anger was the epitome of protective anger. His own daughter had been abused for years, and he wanted to ensure that his evil friend could never touch her again. His anger was righteous and extremely appropriate.

Still, his desire to take justice into his own hands and take the other pastor’s life is clearly destructive. His ultimate choice to trust the Lord to judge allowed his anger to remain righteous.

What did The Daily make you reflect on today?

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Hi @Michaela,

Thank you for this very honest reflection. It encourages me. I can feel that father’s anger!

It’s interesting how believing in God’s wrath can help us avoid revenge.

I understand that for some people, believing God is angry gives them license to be angry themselves. But that’s the opposite of how it should work.

Our anger should clue us into an urgent need for righteousness and justice, not revenge.

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Whose anger? If God is angry His anger is righteous anger; it could not be otherwise. But human anger is often unrighteous. So can I be righteously angry? Indignant? Perhaps if I’m I’m righteous I can be righteously angry? Jesus was angry with the Pharisee because they were unrighteous hypocrites. The Pharisees were angry with Jesus because they could not trap Him in any sin to prove Him a sinner. The Pharisees saw themselves as righteous. If I’m righteously angry I need to be remember that I have been unrighteous and a hypocrite. Someone said we can’t begin to see our unrighteousness and hypocrisy until we become christians. I think we thats true. I think we would be wise and safe to stay humble when we get angry.
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1Corinthians 11:31-32
31 But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

There is something in these verses that seems to apply to your question.

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Humility is so important in responding to anger @dave_aka_lambsev!

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