Understanding Anger

Stephen Arterburn

A great deal of the anger many men feel can be traced to two sources. One is the lack of a father or significant male mentor. The second is the masculine mythology created and perpetuated by our culture. These two issues can leave a man confused, frustrated, and afraid about who he should be and how he should function in his family and society. When these attitudes go unaddressed it’s just a matter of time before anger flares, in hurtful ways.

So, is it wrong for a man—or a woman for that matter—to be angry? In other words, is anger a strictly negative emotion, and always an expression of sin? Definitely not! Anger is a natural human emotion; a facet of the warning system God has built into our bodies to alert us of problems and prompt us to positive, problem-solving actions.

Furthermore, anger isn’t necessarily an expression of sin. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, and the perfect man, expressed anger at several points in His ministry. Jesus’ anger is perhaps most clearly seen when He drove the moneychangers out of the Temple as seen in Matthew 21 and Mark 11.

 Men, I hope this liberates you from the fallacy that anger is something purely negative and detrimental. I also hope it challenges you to consider what anger in your life is natural and healthy, and which is sinful and destructive.