The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Wrath: The Most Destructive Sin

Episode Date: June 5, 2026

In this episode, Bryce talks about Wrath

What's going on guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce, and today, by the title of the episode, we're going to be talking about wrath, about anger. Is being angry really inherently sinful or how do we direct anger? We're going to define wrath. Look at the Bible and what it all says about wrath and anger and how we can talk about it. But first, we've got to define exactly what wrath is. You see, wrath is uncontrolled feelings of anger, hatred, or rage that are often seeking vengeance. You see, wrath essentially is making yourself the God and taking justice into your own hands for something that has provoked anger or hatred or malice in your heart. This is why Paul says, hey, get rid of anger, hatred, wrath, and malice. He like ropes them all together because they're

kind of like a friend group. Anger, hatred, malice, wrath, all of these things, it kind of coexist together because they help breed wrath. What is the book of Jude says? It says, vengeance is the lords. But whether we, but when we try to take justice in our own own hands, whether it's deserved or not, and we're letting anger or hatred or those feelings or emotions cause us to seek vengeance or justice for someone, that's what wrath looks like. And the thing about wrath is that it starts small, but it builds into something nasty, mean, and bigger. And that's we really need to hyperfixate on anger today and what anger really looks like because oftentimes anger is the starting point to rat. All right, real quick, if these videos have helped you,

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So jump on your browser to save a few bucks. To become a member, just hit the join button right below the video. All right. Enjoy the rest of the podcast. Do you struggle with temper? Do you struggle with frustration, all of these things? I struggle getting frustrated. It's so easy at small things, whether I should be getting frustrated at them or not. So if you're some of the struggles with that, I totally understand. So I kind of want to talk about what the Bible says about it, and then we'll get into it. Let's go to Matthew chapter 5, verse 21. Jesus says something very interesting. You have heard that it was said to those of old. You shall not murder,

and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. If you murder someone, you're liable to judgment. Then he says, but I say to you, everyone, not some, everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and then you remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to

your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court lest your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in a prison. Jesus takes anger down to a heart issue. He says, yeah, murder physically is liable to judgment, but like if you are angry at a brother in your heart, you've basically, if you're angry at a brother, you've committed murder in your heart. This is the reality of anger. And I love what Paul says. He says in Ephesians chapter four, he says, be angry and do not sin. Do not let son go down on your anger. There's something profound about that verse coinciding and connecting with Matthew chapter five because Jesus is like, look, if you got a problem with

somebody, like go make amends. Have you ever heard that advice is like common marriage advice? People always say, like, don't go to bed angry with your spouse. Don't go to bed angry. Right? Because that anger, if you let it build up over time and you hide it because a lot of people try to avoid it, a lot of people try to suppress because it's like not that big of a deal. But actually, in fact, communication is going to be a primary weapon against anger and wrath. Even if you're bothered by something little, especially if you're growing in friendship or in a romantic relationship with someone, you're going to find yourself growing in longevity with that person and you're going to find things that trigger you and trigger them and things that you don't like

and things that you like and all this things. And so, like, communication is going to be a primary weapon for you when it comes to combating wrath and anger in your heart. But it's Jesus, like, you're liable for judgment. If you're angry to brother, you've committed murder in your heart. So you need to be careful. And Paul gives just a plain warning. Be angry and do not sin. So is all anger bad?

No. There's such thing as righteous anger. But here's the difference between righteous anger and anger. Righteous anger, it responds to sin rather than the person. and it focuses on God and his character and deals with it in that way. Righteous anger is being angry at sin, not at the person. And so a primary example of like some sinful sin that could turn into something is, for example, if you are angry at the person rather than the sin itself, because the sin is what's harmful.

And so we see a prime example of righteous anger. Jesus is seeing in the synagogue that people are making a quick buck off a new converts by selling stuff to them. They're taking advantage of their faith for the sake of financial gain, and he flips the tables in the synagogue out of righteous anger. God's character, anytime you see the wrath of God in the Bible, it's righteous. Like, why did God flood the earth? Well, because they were rebelling and having sex with fallen angels and creating the Nephlin.

Why did God? We have to trust that God's wrath is just perfect and good and necessary punishment for whatever wrong that has been committed. And so righteous anger is a response to sin and not the person and focuses on the character of God, who he is, the truth of who he is, all of the above. But anger is a starting point, and a prolonged anger develops sinful qualities. If you let the anger linger, you're going to allow the devil the license to use it against you. You know what else is in Romans chapter 4? It says, unrepentant sin. gives the devil a foothold in your life.

And so if you're not repenting of anger in your heart towards a brother, towards someone that has committed wrongdoing to you, that might be the foothold that you've given the devil to weasel his way into oppressing you, tormenting you, or in your struggle, you might not see it. But in that same chapter in Ephesians 4 where Paul's like,

do not be angry, be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger he's like hey you need to like get it out there be like hey this really made me upset i'm i just want to confess to you i don't want to let anger in my heart i'm sorry you know i'm not only against you just want to get it out there because when we confess things it makes satan lose his power over us in that area and so we have to be confident and approach in humility man this thing made me really angry or frustrated i just want to bring it up i'm sorry i don't want to i don't want to deal with this and and and i don't want to be confident I just don't want to have this bitterness towards you in my heart.

I just want to make amends and move on. Did you mean it in this way? Because oftentimes, like, prolonged anger can just come from misunderstanding. Like, how many times you've been frustrated and upset at someone for a misunderstanding? Oh, no, no, I wasn't angry at you over text. Like, maybe it's just a text tone. Or, no, I didn't say that. Like, I would never say that.

Or, you know, you confront someone and they're like, oh, I never said that or the text tone. I didn't mean that in the text tone. Or someone was like, oh, you must have misheard me. I didn't say that. I said this or oh that's not what I meant by this and even if you are still hurt by something you can be like yeah I'm just I was just hurt by that and angry and I'm sorry if I misunderstood to you and do not let the sun go down on your anger even if you go days with anger in your heart bitterness in your heart it's sin and we have to be careful I want to read Romans 12 again 17 through

21 this is what Paul says repay no one evil for evil but give thoughts to do what is honorable in the sight of all. You see, society says, an eye for an eye. If you hit me, I'm going to hit you harder. Or if you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back. But Jesus even does this in the Gospels. He says, yeah, if you slap me on the cheek, I'll give you the other one. So what Paul says, he says, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is

honorable in the sight of all. Love covers all offenses. Keeps going. Verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Jesus blessed are the peacemakers in Matthew chapter 5 verse 19 beloved never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord if someone is gossiping about you if someone has done wrong towards you someone has hurt you emotionally physically sin against you know what we should do pray for them pray for their

families pray for their careers pray for their lives pray that the Lord encounters them, pray that the Lord blesses them. Fall on your knees and go to battle over their soul as you wish the same mercy that has happened in your life would happen to theirs. Because when you hold anger and bitterness in your heart towards someone for the wrongdoing that they've committed against you, you're trying to repay evil onto their life for the evil that they've done to you instead of having the heart of Christ and turning the other cheek and saying, no, I'm going to pray for you.

And I'm going to bless your family in Jesus name. And I'm going to bless your career in Jesus name. And I'm going to bless you in Jesus' name because that's the heart of God. repay no one evil for evil, but consider what is honorable in the sight of other people. Serve that person, love that person, because love is more powerful than evil. And it was the love of God. It's the goodness of God that brings man to repentance. It's not the anger.

It's the goodness of God. His servitude, his love, his mercy, his grace, and those same qualities that gripped your soul should be shining through your life to grip the souls of other people. And so anger can sneak up on us and we have to be very careful about anger and wrath because we try to take justice and what God wants to do into our own hands oftentimes

and we want to make it seem like it's our duty and responsibility but we are trusting that God's going to take care of it. A would be God saves their soul. God redeems them. They come to their senses. is they repent to the Lord, they ask for forgiveness. Primary B is like if they don't, God's going to deal with it. He sees everything. He's all knowing.

So we're going to pray right now. If you're someone like me that struggles with frustration or anger or whatever it may be, we're going to ask that God gives us clarity, reveal to us parts of our heart if we have any bitterness or anger towards people or sin or whatever it may be. Surrender it to the Lord. And we're going to ask God to give us a tender heart for people. Lord Jesus, we thank you for who you are.

God, we thank you for your mercy and grace that you have shown to us. God, we want to not let anger and wrath lead to sin in our lives. So, Lord, would you reveal in our hearts any areas that were angry or bitter towards people for wrongdoing? Lord, would you give us a tender heart for those people, compassionate heart? And, God, would your grace and love and mercy for us shine through our lives every day and let that be the driving factor for our interactions with people? God, we love you. We thank you. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.