The Dangers of Anger

“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be found guilty before the court.’  But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbours malice against him shall be guilty before the court, and whoever speaks [contemptuously and insultingly] to his brother, ‘Raca (You empty-headed idiot)!’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Sanhedrin); and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fiery hell.” Matthew 5:21‭-‬22 

Wow! I think you should read that again! The first time I read that scripture it meant nothing to me, but now it brings so much conviction. As I thought about this radical statement of God’s will, my mind turned to the countless times I’ve harboured anger and malice in my heart towards my brother… Being angry with one’s “brother [or sister]” makes one a candidate for condemnation.  A public insult (presumably an expression of such anger) is worthy of a court proceeding, and condemning the intellectual and moral fitness of one’s “brother [or sister]” puts one in danger of God’s judgement. 

Here, Christ teaches the importance of maintaining peaceful relationships. God is watching and will judge those who live in discord. Christ begins by considering the ultimate fracture of a relationship—murder; then moves to the motive and acts which precede it—anger. A thing I used to say is that “I’m not murdering anyone so I’m good.” Here’s the thing though, “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” James 1:20. So even though I’m not “murdering anyone,” my anger towards my brother [or sister] still is not pleasing the Lord. 

God sees our heart, and he will judge us for anger. Though anger does not have the same consequence as murder, God sees it as murder since it’s the seed of murder. First John 3:15 says, “Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” Therefore, we have our first principle about how to maintain peaceful relationships. We must guard our hearts against poisonous thoughts and attitudes. In Genesis 4, God counselled Cain to master the sin in his heart, so that he wouldn’t murder his brother. “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”…‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Cain did not heed the warning. He allowed his anger to reign and so he fell. He sinned, by committing the first murder recorded in scripture. Christian or not, anger is something we must master! We must master it! We must always be one step ahead of it. We must figure it out. Pre-empt its fruit! When anger knocks, it’s fruit – sin is hiding [crouching] behind that door. We just can’t see it yet. Open the door to anger, and it quickly devours you—you would be a slave and anger your master.

I wonder what today’s world would be like if we all heeded Jesus’ warnings? May we check our hearts daily, and refrain from allowing anger to be master over us. May we allow God to give is hearts of flesh a new Spirit, so that we may learn that which is good and acceptable in His sight. 

Questions for reflection:

1. How can we keep ourselves from anger and other evil attitudes?
2. Are you harbouring anger against a friend, relative, or co-worker? We must recognize it as a grievous sin against God—their Creator.