Christian Devotional – January 12, 2023

The God who Hears, Day 11

Is anger a sin? Read 1 Samuel chapter 11.

I’ve heard that question asked several times and in several ways by many people throughout the years. Is anger a sin? And the answer is, by itself no, anger itself is not a sin. However, it’s important to understand why we get angry and what we do when we get angry. You see, throughout scripture God gets angry and Jesus gets angry. However, what made them angry were things that were against the holiness of God. Those things should make us angry too. As examples, things like slavery and human trafficking and racism are direct violations of the holiness of who God is and the holiness of God’s creation. Those things, and others that go against God’s holiness, should make us very angry.

Secondly, we must understand what we do when we’re angry. James chapter one explains that we should be quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to become angry, because the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. When we are angry, our actions should still lead to the righteousness of God. Our anger and the actions that we take should not be sinful, but should lead to the righteousness of God.

Do we get angry about the things that anger God? How do we respond and what actions are we taking to lead to the righteousness of God?