Examples abound in the Bible, of people who handled their anger and bitterness in a sinful way. We will consider a few of them and examine the consequences that they suffered as a result of their sinful choices.

We find many scriptural examples of people who sinned with their anger.

Cain killed his brother in anger and thereafter, became a vagrant and a wanderer. Simeon and Levi were willful men whose cruel anger drove them to murder people. God scattered their families as a penalty for their sin. In a fit of rage, King Saul tried to kill his oldest son. He also tried to murder David. Naaman was furious and indignant at God’s prophet. He refused, at first, to follow a simple command in order to be healed of leprosy, but was healed when he finally obeyed.

When the priests confronted Uzziah because of his unfaithfulness to the Lord, he became enraged. God struck him with leprosy until the day he died. Jonah was greatly displeased and angry when the Lord showed compassion to Nineveh. God subsequently chastised and humbled him. Simon, a man bound up in bitterness, tried to purchase God’s authority and Peter openly rebuked him.

God forgives us when we repent of our sinful anger, but we must bear the consequences of our choices.

The writer of Proverbs 19:19 informs us,

A man of great anger shall bear the penalty. For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

When we fail to deal biblically with anger, we inevitably grow increasingly disobedient to God’s Word. God, however, offers us abundant resources with which to successfully conquer the problem of anger. We should consider the promise of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” We find a similar promise in 1 John 3:22,

Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

We learn in God’s Word that He is slow to anger. God is merciful, gracious, compassionate, forgiving and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. He alone is holy and without sin. He assures us in Psalm 30:5 that His favor endures for a lifetime, but His anger lasts but a moment. God always directs His anger toward rebellion or disobedience to His commands.

In the Bible, God instructs us to express our feelings of anger in a godly manner—not to deny them.

Christians ought to be careful to communicate the truth about anger. All of our emotions are God-given, but we can sinfully misuse them. The truth is that we become angry in certain situations. God does not instruct us not to feel angry. He commands us instead, to “be angry and sin not.”

Dr. Don Dunlap, a pioneer in the placement of Pastoral Counselors in the offices of Christian physicians, has conducted over twenty thousand appointments during his ministerial career. His counseling practice includes adults, children and families in crisis. Dr. Dunlap is committed to facilitating a network of telephone counselors. His goal is to provide help for the many people unable to meet face to face with a competent Bible-based counselor. For a complete library of Dr. Dunlap’s articles, indexed by topic, go to Family Counseling Ministries. You may also make a telephone appointment for personal counseling by clicking on Family Counseling Ministries. Family Counseling Ministries is a Christianity.com ministry Partner.

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