The Difference Between Righteous and Unrighteous Anger

        In the book of Micah, God shows His Anger towards those Jews who have sinned against Him. These Jews have  sinned against God by marrying into neighboring pagan nations, and practicing idolatry themselves. “

“For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem” (Micah 1:5-9).

     Some people in the world today would think that God was being “too harsh” on the Jews in His Punishment. This is certainly not the case. God is exacting what is known as righteous judgment against the Jews. This means that the Jews who sin are getting what they deserve through God’s Anger because God has a right to be angry! Just like our earthly fathers, God is angered by our wrongdoing and has the right to punish us when we commit sin. “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:9).
      It is OK for us to feel anger, so long as it is “righteous” anger. Righteous anger occurs when we become angry at sin. Jesus showed righteous anger when He came into the temple and saw the moneychangers selling items to use in animal sacrifices. “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Mark 11:15-17).
      Jesus showed righteous anger because He became angry with sin. It is acceptable by God to show righteous anger as long as we do it in a way that we do not sin ourselves. For instance, we cannot become angry at sin and use profanity or mistreat the person who is committing the sin.  On the contrary, we must treat everyone with respect and love, even when we are rebuking them regarding their sins. “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Leviticus 19:17). 
      We commit sin when we have unrighteous anger. Unrighteous anger occurs when we become angry over matters of opinion rather than matters of biblical right and wrong.  Responding to matters of opinion with unrighteous anger is a sin, and it can become a habit that can be a challenge for some to break. For example, when I was a practicing mental health counselor, I saw many clients who were required to attend “anger management” therapy sessions. These sessions were often ineffective because the person who was under state probation often did not want to really change his or her pattern of behavior.  The person merely wanted to attend the required number of therapy sessions necessary to please the probation officer and let that be it. These types of people do not really want to change. If a person wants to stop having unrighteous anger, he or she must want to change their behavior first. This is imperative to living a faithful Christian life!
       The book of Micah shows God’s righteous anger against the Jews. We are God’s Children, and He has every right to punish and correct us when we do wrong, so that we will repent and turn from our sinful ways. Our very souls are at stake if we refuse to repent of sins. We are all sinners, so it is important to remember to follow God’s Word and pray daily, many times a day for our own forgiveness of sins! “Pray without ceasing” ( I Thessalonians 5:17). 
       We must all examine ourselves daily to make sure that we are staying on the straight and narrow path to Heaven! We cannot let the temporary cares of this world distract us from our main duty in life, which is to obey God (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Let us all be sure to do as the apostle Paul did and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

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