I have heard it said that anger is morally neutral, that it is just a reaction to the environment. The morality of anger is said to be the way it is expressed. It could be expressed in a way that hurts others, and therefore wrong.

However, some recent reflections have caused me to question the view that anger is morally neutral.

1) In the story of Jonah, Jonah got angry when a tree that was protecting him from the sun when he was in the desert, died. God did not honor Jonah's anger and in fact, Jonah got rebuked for it. God told him that he cared more for the tree than for the people who would have been destroyed if God would have judged Nineveh. Is Jonah's anger wrong? I believe that it was wrong because his heart was not right. Jonah has really been irritable because he does not have God's heart of mercy. He was not happy about God's decision to show mercy to the Ninevites, and therefore, he does not share God's heart. Jonah should have been so happy that the inconvenience of not having a shade to protect him would not have fazed him.

2) I realized that sometimes my frustrations in life is more about my discomfort at not having my way, instead of God's frustration about sin and its effects. I sometimes get frustrated with cars getting in my way when I have to get somewhere soon. Is that frustration right? No, it shows the condition of my heart, that I value my comfort above all else and those who get in my way are subjected to my silent wrath. If I am humble enough that I am fine with not getting my way, then those frustrations would not have fazed me.

What should we do with our anger? Our anger should be a sign towards what is important to us. Our emotions, positive or negative, are gauges to our hearts, what we value most. We have to acknowledge what we think is most important to us, something that we discover by reflection on our emotions (why am I angry, sad, etc). If what is important to us is not what is important to God, then we need to repent of our lack of godlikeness. If our concern is God's concern, then we bring our concerns to God in prayer and listen to where he leads us, as we act on rectifying the wrongs that are making us angry. God is a God of mercy and our interactions with those who anger us should be characterized by mercy.