Get Angry

It can be helpful to think of anger as a positive emotion - something that helps human flourishing, something that reflects something good in the character of God.

So there’s this command in the Bible that we are supposed to get angry. Literally, the command is this: Be angry! isn’t that a strange thought, that the Bible commands us to get mad?

It’s also helpful that in that command is qualified with a simple little phrase afterwards. Here’s the verse:

Be angry but do not sin. - Ephesians 4:26

So obviously, the early followers of Jesus believed that there was a way to get mad without damaging people - either yourself (by shaming yourself for having anger, for example) or others (by belittling them, for example).

What do you think - is it possible for YOU to get angry but not sin? And why might it be actually commanded (not suggested) to be angry? What are the sorts of things that anger you that might be healthy?

Talk with Jesus about these things.