"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,’ and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Matthew 5:21-22
What is the similarity and the difference between murder and sinful anger? As I have said for years, “All sins are equally damning (before God), but not all sins are equally damaging (in practice).” While the meaning of those words is likely to be crystal clear on their own, let me explain it a little further. Forgive me if what I say is obvious to you, as it might not be equally obvious to everyone.
In God’s eyes, sinful anger and murder both deserve to be condemned. This is why some people say “all sin is equally sinful.” While that is true in one sense—since even the most minor sin deserves God’s wrath—there is another sense in which there are degrees of sin based on the damage they cause.
Sinful anger/hatred toward another person is much less damaging than acting on that hate to the extent of committing homicide. Not only is the life that was taken over, consider how many other people are adversely affected by a murder! Consider also the fact that the murderer is forever affected by the fact that he or she took the life of a fellow human being. And what about God? As much as God hates sinful anger/hatred, when one He created in His image is murdered, His holy image is desecrated!
Thus, while all sin is equally damning, all sin is not equally damaging. And as this concept is well illustrated by sinful anger/hatred and murder, it is no less true in a myriad of other examples in which heart sins are the same, yet different, from acting on those heart sins.
Let us guard our hearts from committing sins of the heart, while understanding how much more damage we cause when acting on our hearts’ sins. And let us walk closely with, and confess our sins quickly to, our forgiving Savior!