Three Forms of Anger

Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.

–Ecclesiastes 7:9

If you’re a genuine Christian, the Bible says you’re going to lay aside sins of anger. In Colossians 3:8, Paul mentioned three specific sins we are to lay aside: anger, wrath, and malice. We use these words interchangeably, but each word has a distinct meaning.

The Greek word translated as “anger” is orge. It refers to a smoldering, persistent feeling of ill will toward another person. Unresolved anger takes a toll on our physiological system. In their book Happiness Is a Choice, renowned Christian psychiatrists Drs. Frank Minirth and Paul Meier explained that unresolved anger ultimately results in fewer antibodies to fight off infectious diseases. They concluded, “Pent-up anger is probably the leading cause of death.”

The smoldering ill will we feel toward other people always demands an expression. Sometimes anger expresses itself in the form of wrath. The Greek word translated as “wrath” is thumos, which means rage. Picture water building and building behind a dam until it bursts through and destroys everything in its path. That’s what wrath is: a violent outburst of venom and vile against another person.

Sometimes we realize it’s not good to unload our anger on someone else, especially if that someone is our mate, our employer, or a policeman. So we keep our anger inside, where it turns into malice. The Greek word translated as “malice,” kakia, refers to anger turned inward. When you feel malice toward somebody, you may not attack them directly, but you engage in passive-aggressive behavior or slice them to bits behind their back. You despair whenever they succeed and rejoice whenever they fail.

Rabbi Harold Kushner told a story about two shopkeepers who were bitter rivals. Every day, they sat in front of their stores, watching each other. If one shopkeeper got a customer, he would lord it over his rival. One night, an angel visited one of the shopkeepers and said, “The Lord sent me to teach you a lesson. Whatever you ask for, He will give it to you–but He will give your rival twice as much. If you ask for money, your rival will be twice as rich. If you ask for long life, your rival will live twice as long.” The shopkeeper said, “All right. Strike me blind in one eye.” That’s malice. Paul said we are to put aside feelings of ill will toward others.

***

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Life’s Most Dangerous Emotion” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2012.

Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, Happiness Is a Choice (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 112; Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: Anchor, 2004), 129–30.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.