Proverbs 11:4; 22:14 (CB)

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. . . . The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the LORD’s wrath falls into it. 

THE GOODNESS OF ANGER. God himself is a God of wrath. St. Paul tells us not to sin in our anger (Eph 4:26), meaning that there is a proper place for it. So anger is not itself something bad but very quickly goes bad in us. Anger is energy released to defend something you love. God is angry toward the evil that dishonors him and ruins that which he loves. But the problem with human anger is this—we tend to overlove the wrong things. It is not wrong to value your name and reputation, but if you love them too much, there will be inordinate anger that essentially is just a defending of your ego. Parents may get inordinately angry at children mainly because the children embarassed them before others. Because our loves are confused and out of order, our anger—basically a good thing—so often does evil. We need to look to the one whose anger was always guided by love not for himself but for us (Mk 3:5; Jn 2:14–17). Think of the last time you got really angry. What were you defending?

Prayer: Lord, it is a sin for me to not get angry at the wrongs done to others. But I don’t do that. Instead I get angry when my will is crossed. Help me direct anger at the destruction that sin creates-the problems, not the persons. Amen.