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“Anger is not sin.”

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be (p. 9). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

You may question that thought so let’s go on.

Mark says, “In fact, Scripture uses the strongest type of anger, hate, to describe how we should feel about sin (Romans 12:9).  And if we hated sin more, we might do it less! Now, if that gets translated the wrong way, it’s extremely dangerous. It’s sin, not sinners.

“Jesus got mad. He got mad at the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He got mad at death when it robbed Him of His friend Lazarus. He got mad at the disciples when they tried to deter Him from the cross. He got mad at the money changers who turned the temple into a den of thieves, and then He threw a temple tantrum! That’s tough love!”

He goes on, “Now, here’s a little tip. If you try to play God instead of playing the man, it won’t work out so well. When you try to do God’s job for Him, it backfires. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict; it’s your job to love.

“We all have anger issues. It’s important that we ask ourselves, What am I getting angry at? Some of us beat ourselves up because of the mistakes we’ve made, but those self-inflicted wounds undermine what God is trying to do in us and through us. Sometimes we get mad at God, thinking He is responsible for something that has happened in our lives. If we’re going to get mad, we should get mad at the one who kills, steals, and destroys.”

He then says, “Here’s some homework: take an anger inventory.

“When do you get angry? Why? And what is the outcome? Do an anger autopsy. That’s how you identify your triggers. Nine times out of ten, the trigger is not getting what you want when you want it. Which brings us right back to selfishness. You have to identify your sin triggers so you can lock the trigger instead of pulling it.”

So, what is it that triggers your anger?  What is it?  It would be good to be angry at what angers God, wouldn’t it?


Yes, yes!
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