Is it a sin to be angry? No, of course not. The Bible clearly teaches that it is okay to be angry, to feel anger, as long as we aren’t quick to anger (Ecclesiastes 7:9, James 1:19) and don’t sin in our anger (Ephesians 4:26). And if I were to ask you for an example in the Bible that proves that it is okay to be angry, a vast majority of you would probably all give me the same example – the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. The story of Jesus storming into the temple, flipping over tables, and chasing the money-changers away.

Though this is a very well-known biblical story, many people do not understand its real meaning. Throughout the years, I’ve heard people justify their own unrighteous anger by saying, “Well, Jesus got angry, too!” And in recent times, I’ve seen many social media posts using this story to justify the violence and rage that spread across the country because “it was all for a good cause.”

We can’t just use this story of Jesus’ anger to justify our actions. We need to take a good look at the account and study the passage in context so that we can unearth its true meaning and apply that true meaning to our lives.