Apple 2008

Introduction

A few years ago, several of us went to minister in a maximum security prison in Texas. One of the inmates who participated in the seminar was "Mo." Mo was a very large man, built much like a sumo wrestler. Numerous scars on his body bore witness to violence and hard-living he had experienced. This was underscored by his missing front teeth. Watching Mo eat reminded me of watching the clothes tumble about in a large commercial drier in a laundromat. One of Mo's talents was singing. I will never forget his rendition of "Amazing Grace." Nor will I forget the words of my friend, Dick Plowman, then area director for Prison Fellowship. Dick said, "Now just what song will Mo sing for us? Whatever one he wants!"

Mo was big enough and tough enough to do just about anything he wanted. God is bigger and stronger. But God's character limits Him, so that He can act only within His own character. God can only do that which is holy, just, and right. This means that whatever God does is right. Human anger may often be sinful, both in origin and expression, but divine anger is always righteous anger. Human jealousy is most often a vice, rather than a virtue, but when God is jealous it is a righteous jealousy.

Because anger and jealousy are frequently attributed to God in the Bible, we must agree that not all anger and jealousy are evil. Pressing the matter further, if we are to imitate God, then there must be times when we should be angry. Our text in Ephesians 4:27-28 is about righteous anger. In this lesson, we will seek to learn the difference between righteous and unrighteous anger, and how it is that we can express righteous anger in a way that brings glory to God.

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