Have you been taught since you were a child, that feeling anger is a sin? Someone recently stated that "anger is murder," and I kind of took exception to that. That isn't what the scripture actually says.

Matt 5:21-22

21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.   NIV

This scripture is not saying that anger and murder are the same thing. The intention is to say that it is not just our actual deeds that are sinful, but also our thoughts.

Here is what Matthew Henry's Commentary says about the above scripture:

Matt 5:21-26

1. Christ tells them that rash anger is heart-murder (v. 22); Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, breaks the sixth commandment. By our brother here, we are to understand any person, though ever so much our inferior, as a child, a servant, for we are all made of one blood. Anger is a natural passion; there are cases in which it is lawful and laudable; but it is then sinful, when we are angry without cause. The word is eike, which signifies, sine causƒ, sine effectu, et sine modo-without cause, without any good effect, without moderation; so that the anger is then sinful,

(1.) When it is without any just provocation given; either for no cause, or no good cause, or no great and proportionable cause; when we are angry at children or servants for that which could not be helped, which was only a piece of forgetfulness or mistake, that we ourselves might easily have been guilty of, and for which we should not have been angry at ourselves; when we are angry upon groundless surmises, or for trivial affronts not worth speaking of.

(2.) When it is without any good end aimed at, merely to show our authority, to gratify a brutish passion, to let people know our resentments, and excite ourselves to revenge, then it is in vain, it is to do hurt; whereas if we are at any time angry, it should be to awaken the offender to repentance, and prevent his doing so again; to clear ourselves (2 Cor 7:11), and to give warning to others.

(3.) When it exceeds due bounds; when we are hardy and headstrong in our anger, violent and vehement, outrageous and mischievous, and when we seek the hurt of those we are displeased at. This is a breach of the sixth commandment, for he that is thus angry, would kill if he could and durst; he has taken the first step toward it; Cain's killing his brother began in anger; he is a murderer in the account of God, who knows his heart, whence murder proceeds, Matt 15:19.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

The word used in the original scripture means not to be angry without a just cause, and not to lose control. It is what we do with the anger we feel, that determines whether or not it is a sin. If you get angry at a neighbor and shoot him, that's a sin. If somebody's actions on the road cause you to be enraged, and run them off the road, that's a sin. If your child turns over a glass of milk and you yell because they are clumsy, that's a sin. If your boss mistreats you and you come home and beat your wife, that's a sin. If you are just having a bad day, and you yell at your spouse and really hurt them, that's a sin. But the emotion of anger, in itself, is not a sin.

If you witness a brutal murder, you are likely to feel anger toward the person who did it. If you took the law in your own hands and hunted down that person to kill them, then that would be a sin. But if you turned them in to the proper authorities, for a legal trial, that is not sin, and neither was the anger you felt. The proper authorities are actually put in place by God for such purposes. (Please note that killing someone in a war is not treated the same. You are under the authority of your government, and God has put that authority in place over you. You are not acting on your own.)

Ps 4:4     4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. NIV

Prov 29:11    11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.  NIV

Eph 4:26-27    26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,  NIV

These verses show that it is possible to be angry, but not sin. If anger itself was a sin, then we would sin immediately when we felt anger, and there would be no need for the scriptures to say "in your anger, don't sin." It would be too late.

In saying "don't let the sun go down while you are still angry," that is simply saying don't brood on the thing that made you angry. Don't hold a grudge. When we hold our anger in and brood over it, that's what is likely to cause a sin to happen. Our anger gets the best of us.  

But let's look quickly at something else. If you get angry at your brother (wife, neighbor, boss....) and dream about killing them, eventhough you don't actually carry it out, that also is a sin. Thinking it is as good as doing it.

Matt 5:28    28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  NIV

A man can certainly look at a woman and think she is gorgeous. That's OK. It's when his thoughts turn to "I wonder what it would be like....." that he gets himself into trouble. He's crossed over that line. (And there's no double standard here - it also goes for women thinking the same thing about men.)

So control your thoughts. Not an easy thing to do. Pretty much impossible if you don't have God's help.

All of us have had, at one time or another, fleeting thoughts we should not have had. Praise God that He forgives us for them, if we are His children.