Response to "Is Anger a Sin? Not Always: Appreciating its Dangers and Benefits"

Before I read this article, I have already known that being angry is not a sin, because God has displayed his wrath many times throughout biblical history. What's more, anger, like joy and grief are part of the gamut of human emotions that God gave us to enjoy. Therefore, it would be ironic to say that being angry as a sin.

As the article follows, sin only occurs when the individual when we act in ways that dishonor or displeases God. As how Su Li enlightened me during the last precept lesson, the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant has all been amazingly summarized in the the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave, that is quoted in Matthew 22:36, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."So whenever we act in ways that is not in accordance to the loving nature of God and towards his people, then we have sinned.

The second point I follow with the writer as well is that there are different motivations for human anger, either out of "righteous indignation" or "sinful anger". Take the latter which I think is more prevalent in our daily lives, it can be interpreted loosely as any act that, once again is not according to the loving nature of God. Therefore, when we lose our temper because we got irritated by our spouse or parents, which if we look into it, likely points to impatience on our part, so that clearly constitutes a sin.

The former, anger that stems from "righteous indignation" occurs when others say or do something that tarnishes our character, beliefs, and values, so therefore, we have a right to feel indignation. In legal terms, it would be called either "slander" or "libel". Because of the defamatory remark, there is a need to correct that misconception. Understandably as humans, when we get slandered, it is natural for us to become upset. That said, it does not give us the prerogative to do a "tit-for-tat" because that would again be breaching the loving nature of God's ways.

Following on, there is another misconception that many Christians often encounter, and that is "Thou shalt not judge". From Matthew 7:3, it says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." But if we would read on to the next verse that says, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Essentially this verse is saying that, yes one can judge but bear in mind also, that by the yardstick that you use to judge others, the same yardstick God will use to judge us. So as believers, if we have been living closely to the Spirit of the Law (again thanks to Su Li for your enlightenment), we can form an opinion of other people. For instance, if we have always been a faithful spouse, and a friend goes to commit adultery, we can think of that person as an immoral person. And that is only so far that I will go. Because, beyond that, we are still expected to treat the immoral person in accordance to God's loving ways. So if we go around telling other people with a malicious intention (like gossiping) that the person has committed adultery, then clearly we have sinned ourselves. Neither are we to give that adulterer a cold shoulder (if both have been friends previously.) We must not forget that is by the God's grace, mercy and loving kindness, that we who were once condemned to purgatory, can now enter the gates of God's heavenly kingdom. As such, we must not forget to extend the same level of compassion to our fellow brethrens.

Concluding my repsonse, I think it is not only important, but necessary that we look at the motivations for anger, because God will look at our heart when he comes to judge us. So therefore, we should emulate him. For the believers, a presumptuous (according to Kay Arthur), unrepentant heart that takes God's love for granted will surely not inherit a greater portion of the treasures in heaven, as opposed to one that is sincere and repentant.

God is always more interested in looking inside our heart, than our physical actions.