November 28 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Jonah 4:8–11

Devotional

Anger is not always sinful. It’s not necessarily sinful. But it does have such a tendency to run wild that every single time it shows itself, we should be quick to question its character with this probing query, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

It may be that we can answer, “YES.” Anger is often the madman’s firebrand, but sometimes it’s Elijah’s fire from heaven. It’s right to be angry at sin because of the wrong that it commits against our good and gracious God. It’s right to be angry at ourselves because we remain so foolish after so much divine instruction. It’s right to be angry at others when the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. Whoever is not angry at transgression becomes a participant in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing; no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself “is angry with the wicked every day” (Ps. 7:11), and he tells us, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Ps. 97:10).

Far more frequently, however, I fear that our anger is not commendable; it cannot be justified; and then we must answer, “NO.” Why should we be irritable with children? Why should we be enraged at servers? Why should we be irate at companions? Does such anger honour our Christian profession? Does it glorify God? Is it not rather the old evil nature seeking to gain dominion? And should we not resist it with all the might of our new-born nature? Many professing Christians give way to their anger as though it is useless to attempt resistance. But let every believer remember that he must be a conqueror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned.

If we cannot control our tempers, then what has God’s grace done for us? Someone told Mr. Jay that God often grafts grace on a crab-stump. “Yes,” he replied, “but the fruit [of grace] will not be crabs.” We must never make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but rather we must always fly to the cross and ask the Lord to crucify our tempers and renew us in gentleness and meekness after his own image.

[July 13]

Extracted from C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening (public domain), language modernized by Larry E. Wilson.