“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. (NLT)
We are often told by well-meaning people not to get angry. Yet there are times when anger is justified. If William Wilberforce didn’t get angry at the slave trade, that evil might have continued. We can be angry without necessarily sinning.
So, when Jesus says these words about anger, we can assume he was speaking of unjustified anger directed against fellow human beings. He is not equating anger with murder. One obviously has more direct and serious consequences. He is rather saying that anger can lead to murder. Angry words and gestures cause harm and invite God’s disapproval.
We need to find safe and healthy ways of dealing with anger. Burying it causes us emotional and physical damage. Just letting it all out damages others with the shrapnel of our heated emotions. Displacing it will unfairly direct our anger at a third party: I am angry at my boss at work, so I take it out on my children.
We are to get God’s help in controlling our anger in such a way as to express it safely in a way that does not harm others and which even may do some good. Otherwise, it can explode or fester or corrupt our various relationships.
Not dealing with anger means we kill joy, we kill gladness, we kill truth, we kill witness, we kill love, we kill the spark of life in those whom Jesus loves. Let’s not pat ourselves on the back for not wielding the murderous knife, when all the time the dagger of anger does its miserable work.
Blessings
David
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