Anger: Satan's Mask

Jonathan Dodson has a great post on anger over at Boundless.org. Here is a piece of it that really makes a powerful point.

In order to understand our anger it must be compared and contrasted with God's anger. We must see our anger through His eyes. David Powlison describes our anger in Satanic, warlike features:

Warmaking is a prime trait of sinners. It's the image of Satan: liar, murder, divider, aggressor.¹

Speaking of the judgmental and contentious person he writes:

He becomes, in fact, Satanic. He acts in the image of the accuser of the brethren, an adversary of the well-being of others, an unlawful bringer of destruction, a tyrant and vigilante.²

By identifying our sinful anger with the image of Satan, Powlison drives a wedge between the desires of the Spirit and the desires of the flesh, the image of Christ and the image of Satan.

It is horrifying to think of bearing the image of Satan, but that's exactly what we do when we insist on our own way instead of submitting to God's way. Our complaining, aggressive, demanding spirit has more in common with Satan than it does with Christ.

1. David Powlison, "Anger: Part 3" JBC Vol 16, 1 Fall 1997, 32.
2. Ibid., 37
   

HT: Between Two Worlds