Anger and sin

Eph 4:26 Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath, 27 neither give place to the Devil.

The message Translation puts it this way: Eph 4:26 Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry--but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry. Don't go to bed angry. 27 Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

Situations will come, when anger rises up within us. You plan your day and the life happens. At the workplace, a co-worker might pass a remark or a teacher might have something nasty to say about your child. So many opportunities will present itself during the course of any one-day, to `lose it`.

Sometimes a situation may cause you to want to lash out. Sometimes there is cause for righteous anger. When we see a situation where a minority group is oppressed or where a dictator overplays his hand.

The bottom line is this: “Be angry, and do not sin.”

We can not allow our anger and the emotions in anger, lead us to sin. Two wrongs, will never make a `right`

Does that mean that we are to sit around like little `punch-bags`? No, definitely no!

We are to make a stand to defend the defenseless and to protect those who can not protect themselves.

But always, under the guidance of God and through Scripture.

Jesus would often confront the situation at hand, but always in love. He would always present the alternative.

We can do a couple of things before we react:

1. Confirm the situation. Is there enough reason to react? Confrontation should never be a daily thing, it should never bring pleasure. If being confrontational gives you some sort of satisfaction or pleasure – check your motives.

2. Be sure of the facts and be specific. Don’t stray from the original cause for confrontation. Don’t get drawn into mud-slinging.

3. Be sensitive. Sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and sensitive to the other persons feelings. Confronting a situation does not grant us the right to be hurtful.

4. Oftentimes we need to remember, the confrontation is not about me, it’s about settling a situation. The situation is the problem, not the person.

“Do not let the sun go down upon your wrath”.

If a situation needs fixing, don’t dwell on it. Address it, face it, get it over and behind you. To dwell on it will harden your heart and will lead to sin.

Life is to short to walk around harboring offenses.

Let’s display God’s Grace and Mercy. In doing so, the devil has no foothold. His traps will stay empty.