First, let me tell you there are three New Testament Greek
words for anger. Thumos is an
explosive anger. We get our English word “thermal” from it. This kind of anger
shows itself in a turbulent, boiling agitation. A person with this kind of
anger is out of control.
Another Greek word, parorgismos, is used in Ephesians 4:26, a scripture that contains, in part, your question: “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (NKJV). Parogismos (wrath) is not an explosive anger, it is a white-hot, seething anger. It’s a destructive anger that eats you up inside.
And last is orge. This is an interesting anger. It’s an attitude about a person or thing and it is “aroused” at certain times. Think of our English word, orgasm, here. This kind of anger is permitted. In fact, it is the anger we are told to have in Ephesians 4:26: “Be orge, and do not sin: don’t let the sun go down on your parorgismos.”
There is a time to be angry and a right way to be angry. The problem for most people is that they are angry at the wrong things in the wrong way, or they are angry at one thing but take it out on something else. An example of this is when a man gets angry at work, then blows up at home, yelling at his spouse and kicking out the cat!
A great example of appropriate anger is found when Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem. He did so because His Father’s house had been made into a “den of thieves.” He was right to be angry at that. It was righteous anger and appropriately applied, not sinful. There is a “justifiable” reason to be angry. It’s the “unjustified” anger that is problematic. In His renown Sermon On The Mount, Jesus said, ‘But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment (Matthew 5:22 emphasis mine).
The passage in Ephesians promotes the idea of settling the reason for your anger as soon as possible. When anger is bottled up, it can lead to a host of problems, not the least of which can be physical and emotional maladies.
One more thing; I can’t find a time in Scripture when Jesus became angry at how He was ill-spoken of, ill-treated, maligned or slandered - something we get angry with regularly.
Another Greek word, parorgismos, is used in Ephesians 4:26, a scripture that contains, in part, your question: “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (NKJV). Parogismos (wrath) is not an explosive anger, it is a white-hot, seething anger. It’s a destructive anger that eats you up inside.
And last is orge. This is an interesting anger. It’s an attitude about a person or thing and it is “aroused” at certain times. Think of our English word, orgasm, here. This kind of anger is permitted. In fact, it is the anger we are told to have in Ephesians 4:26: “Be orge, and do not sin: don’t let the sun go down on your parorgismos.”
There is a time to be angry and a right way to be angry. The problem for most people is that they are angry at the wrong things in the wrong way, or they are angry at one thing but take it out on something else. An example of this is when a man gets angry at work, then blows up at home, yelling at his spouse and kicking out the cat!
A great example of appropriate anger is found when Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem. He did so because His Father’s house had been made into a “den of thieves.” He was right to be angry at that. It was righteous anger and appropriately applied, not sinful. There is a “justifiable” reason to be angry. It’s the “unjustified” anger that is problematic. In His renown Sermon On The Mount, Jesus said, ‘But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment (Matthew 5:22 emphasis mine).
The passage in Ephesians promotes the idea of settling the reason for your anger as soon as possible. When anger is bottled up, it can lead to a host of problems, not the least of which can be physical and emotional maladies.
One more thing; I can’t find a time in Scripture when Jesus became angry at how He was ill-spoken of, ill-treated, maligned or slandered - something we get angry with regularly.
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