Righteous Anger – Part 2

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isaiah 5:20

Did you know that God Himself gets angry? The Bible says, ‘The LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice’ (1 Kings 11:9). Often change begins with righteous anger. Aristotle once said: ‘Anybody can become angry; that’s easy. But to be angry with the right person…to the right degree…at the right time…for the right purpose, and in the right way …that’s not easy.’ But it is possible! A person who always gets angry is a fool, but a person who never gets angry is lacking in moral courage. Henry Ward Beecher said: ‘A man who doesn’t know how to be angry, doesn’t know how to be good. A man who doesn’t know how to be shaken to his heart’s core with indignation over things evil, is either a fungus or a wicked man.’ Here are four things that we ought to get angry over: 1) A sex-crazed, profanity-filled movie and television industry that’s polluting the minds of young and old alike. 2) Cowardly politicians who do what’s politically expedient instead of what’s morally right. 3) Injustice done to others because of the color of their skin or their economic status. 4) Your children when they openly defy you. However, a word of warning: ‘Don’t go to bed angry’ (Ephesians 4:26). So, clearly explain the rules of the house, consistently enforce those rules, but make sure that your child knows you love them and have only their best interest at heart. They may not understand it at the time, but they will appreciate it later.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, I pray that my anger will only be for those things that You would get angry with and that I respond in a righteous way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen