Anger: Be Angry and Do Not Sin

Be Angry and Do Not Sin Eph. 4:26

Describe below the worst trouble anger ever got you into.

What does the Bible say about ANGER ?

  • Anger itself is not sinful. Like any emotion, anger can become destructive if we do not express it biblically.
    • God gets angry. Ex 22:24; Ps 7:11
    • Jesus got angry. Mt 21:12; Mk 3:5; Jn 2:13-17
    • Believers may get angry. Eph 4:26 [righteous indignation: anger against sin, evil, immorality, injustice, blasphemy, etc.]
    • The energy of anger can be beneficial. 1 Sam 11:6 7, 17:26, 50
  • Anger becomes sinful in two ways: [sinful anger is self-centered, concerned with what happened to me. Based on pride and self-pity. ]
    • By venting it    “blowing up,” rage, tantrum. The energies of anger are vented on others. [This is how murder happens. Mt 5:21-22 ]
    • By keeping it – holding on to the emotion, allowing it to linger, not dealing with it correctly. Anger kept inside leads to bitterness, hatred and a negative attitude.
  • Common results of Anger:
    • Hatred and Murder Gen. 4:5 8
    • Bad attitude
    • Assault Num 22:27
    • Pouting 1 Kings 21:4
    • Stupidity Prov 14:17; Ecc 7:9
  • What to do about Anger:
    • Deal with it correctly.
      • Recognize the emotion and the potential for damage.
      • Try to discern the cause of your anger. It is legitimate? If not, simply refuse to be angry. Let it slide. Don’t worry about it.
      • Do not let it simmer. This leads to bitterness and hatred. [Our text indicates that we should deal with it quickly. Anger tends to grow and fester. Even righteous anger can lead to sinful anger and acts. Get rid of it. ]
      • Do not let it explode. This hurts others and yourself.
      • Confess your sin and make restitution (if you need to).
      • THERE IS NO NEED TO LET EVERYONE ELSE KNOW THAT YOU ARE ANGRY.
      • Re direct it. Channel the power of the emotion into a solution of the problem.
      •    Be solution oriented. Can you solve the problem? Maybe there is nothing you can do. If you have no power to solve the problem, it does no good to be angry. [E.g., you had your heart set on going to a friend’s house, but at the last minute your folks plan something else. ]
      •    Direct the energy into solving the problem. [Anger is powerful. Perhaps you can come up with a solution that would please all parties involved.]
      • Focus on the problem, not on people . [Don’t jump on others just because you didn’t get your way. ] .
      • Don’t try to pay back the one who caused the problem. God is the judge; He will repay. [ Read Rom 12:17-21 This is very difficult. E.g., playing basketball and a player keeps riding you, giving you a hard time. Easy to vent your anger on the guy. Problem is that you will get called for the penalty, which makes you even more angry. ]

Conclusion: Anger is a natural emotion. How we handle our anger may be sinful or proper. Next time you get angry, think about what we studied today and try to respond biblically.

Comments

  1. lee dunston says

    thanks for material, just covering one Sunday for another teacher. Thank you for having this website

  2. Tanya Chavis says

    Thank you for your site. I am new to the Sunday school but not as a teacher. I don't know where to begin with my lessons, yey I want the lessons to be geared towards the students' real life.

  3. Thanks for taking precious time to create this. It’s difficult to find something both free and useful like this post.

  4. kris lowery says

    Thank you so much for this site…I'm fillng in for a teacher today and this was exactly what I needed.

  5. This is great SunSch content and I will be using it my High School class this week. Thanks for offering free material that is relevant to teenage students. May God bless you for the work that you do!

  6. I have been filling in for the regular sunday school teacher for the last couple of weeks. This is great material, I got a lot of discussion going with it.

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