“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 5:26-27
Paul encourages us here with three distinct issues with anger:
1. Don’t sin in the midst of it.
2. Don’t let it linger.
3. Satan uses it as a “launching pad” for temptation into other sin.
First, there must be a way for me to become angry and not sin in the process. I guess this should be obvious since God is sinless and He has demonstrated anger as reveled in His word. I like to think of it as, “Don’t give anger the car keys. It can ride with you, but don’t let it drive.” If I give anger control, I can think and respond with my perspective only instead of God’s. I must have God’s perspective at all times-even in anger.
Secondly, if I allow anger to hang around for a while, his big brother always shows up eventually: bitterness. Now bitterness is even more destructive than anger. Bitterness plots hurt, and it dominates my thoughts (along with my attitudes, actions, habits, and character). Bitterness eventually destroys us physically. It first appears on our faces and then routinely does its damage on our “insides”. Bitterness is a social and emotional “cancer” that kills unless we work toward forgiveness. The best advice is to run as fast as you can from bitterness. Leave it in your dust (past). Don’t keep inviting it to your present.
Thirdly, if I allow Satan to establish a foothold (stronghold) with anger, it gives him easy access to other areas of my soul. If I do not regain that surrendered ground through forgiveness and the truth of scripture, Satan will begin attaching other areas of my soul with inside power. It is brutal. I find myself being overwhelmed with temptation in other areas, such as, guilt, pride, lust, envy…and so on.
Wisdom would teach us that the best recourse with anger is to avoid it. Anger is the result of my unsurrendered rights. When I made Jesus Lord, I surrendered all my rights. Anger usually indicates that I have reclaimed some of those surrendered rights. For instance, I may start believing that I have the right to being respected. So if someone steps on my respect, my anger flares up. I do not have the right to be respected (or any other rights) because I gave that to Jesus. So essentially, my anger “tells on me”. It reveals a hidden issue and highlights an unsurrendered right. I do not have a right to a happy marriage, a healthy body, a comfortable lifestyle, and a secure future (to name a few). My culture says I do, but my God says I don’t.
Paul concludes a few verses after the statement of “In your anger, do not sin” with:
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Ephesians 4:32
It requires me living intentionally, but the freedom is sweet!
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