Sin means judgment

I have read through scripture a number of times but have always struggled a bit with how God could 'get angry' and still be a merciful and kind God. My guess is that I am not alone in this quandary. What I have deduced is that God gets 'angry' when people sin - sin gets his anger stirred up. He is slow to anger, but that doesn't mean his patience can be taken for granted. God is the judge of human character - not us. We would like to sit in judgment on occasion, but we are not qualified to judge simply because we have this sin nature at work within each of us. 

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:7-8)

Whenever we think we are above the judgment of God, we are in a very troubling place. We may want to take revenge when we have been wronged, but God's concern will always be with the one who has done the wrong. Scripture reminds us that God is on the side of the innocent - he will judge the one who brings harm to them. Does that mean they will burn in the lake of fire? Not necessarily! It means he will bring enough 'discomfort' into their lives that they will be driven to make a decision to either repent of their sins or face that ultimate judgment.

The principle is that of harvesting whatever it is we sow. When we sow all manner of derision and discontent in this world, we can be assured that God's patience with us will someday come to an end. He will begin to bring 'judgment' into our lives. That means we may not always come out of things 'smelling rosy'. There may be consequences we did not intend when we set out on our sinful path. It isn't that God causes the consequences as much as it is that he doesn't stand in the way of them. Always keep in mind that God's intent is that no man should be separated from him - he provided grace for all who would seek it.

When we are engaged in wrongdoing, we can expect consequences. When we are seeking forgiveness for our wrongdoing, we can expect grace. God's plan is the latter - that we would seek his forgiveness and be restored to right relationship with him. All God asks is for us to take a close look at our own actions - if they don't align with his principles, we should repent. If they do, we should press in a little closer for sin's pull is always just around the corner. God doesn't like to judge, but he isn't going to allow sin to have the upper hand in our lives. Just sayin!