Anger Doesn’t Cancel Out Love
Growing up, I believed anger cancelled out all love. If someone was upset with me, then he could not also love me. Anger and love could not exist together. That lie even applied to God. I believed God couldn’t fully love me because He had to be angry to show me I wasn’t perfectly obeying his commands.
Since I continually failed, I envisioned Him always scowling, holding His axe of punishment poised over my head, waiting for me to do the next wrong thing. Even after I became a Christian and began to comprehend God’s love, I still sensed the axe of displeasure poised, waiting for me to disobey. In the persistent beliefs from my childhood, the only way I would learn to be good was to be motivated by avoiding God’s anger.
What a horrible load to carry. I’ve now been growing ever closer to God and more obedient for over fifty-five years, and I only think of that axe as an example of the burden I previously carried. Now I can picture God smiling at me in delight based in my inheritance in Christ (Ephesians 1).
Yes, He does discipline me, but He knows difficulties and trials will mold me into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. I still disobey, but He lovingly woos me back through His forgiveness and knowing what is best for me. Now I’m motivated to obey out of gratitude for God’s gracious work based on Jesus’s death and resurrection which provides my salvation.
So why is God’s anger not sinful? Psalm 103:8 tells us, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (ESV, italics added). His righteous anger is loving, compassionate, reasonable, slow, pure anger motivated by desiring the best for us, knowing sin destroys us. These truths can enable us to respond to others with gracious choices for their good rather than anger (which is not a very good motivational tool).
God’s anger about sin motivates Him to give us consequences for our good, even as He doesn’t withdraw His love. Psalm 89:32-33 assures us: “Then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness” (italics added).
Comprehending these truths about the mixture of God’s righteous anger and love has been a life-long process for me growing my confidence in His never-changing love for me.
How about you? Can you comprehend and truly believe God’s wrath about sin and His love can co-exist? I guarantee the truth will set you free.
