Be ye Angry

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"Be ye Angry" By Diane Webb

Ephesians 4: 26—"Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

It's OK to have feelings of anger. Anger is a natural emotion that pops up in many situations. It comes without permission. It is not logical to try and prevent anger from occurring—doing so will only lead to health problems or outbursts. It's your behavior when you are angry that causes a problem and needs to be controlled. The actions taken when angry are most often harmful in some way. The scripture today warns of the danger of sin when acting out of anger. It also warns not to hang on to your anger all day long into the night. (Some people hold onto anger for years never mind more than a day.) Anger breeds more anger. The thoughts from anger lead to behaviors that are not Christ-like. Decisions made in anger are usually regretted. The Bible has countless scriptures referring to anger—none of which encourage it. Some may ask, "What about righteous anger?" No anger coming from man is righteous—only God has righteous anger. However, if you feel you do have a right to be angry, remember, it's not the emotion o f anger that is wrong—it's the behaviors from anger that can be (and usually are) sinful. For example, perhaps a man is rightly angry when he sees a 300 pound parent slap a 20 pound child in the face. The anger may be a reasonable and natural response but what happens next can either be within the will of God or outside the will of God (a sin). What are the options? If this man goes over and punches the 300 pound parent because of his "righteous" anger then he has let the anger cause him to sin. Just because someone deserves to be punched in the face does not mean you have the right or privilege of doing so. On the other hand, if the man, being a Christian, walks over and offers assistance, invites the man to church, talks calmly but firmly to the parent, or makes a report on the child's behalf, he has not allowed his anger to cause him to sin. Sin is never justifiable regardless of how good you make it sound. Even in understandable circumstances (like the one mentioned here) sin is still sin. Anger often leads to un-Christian behaviors: cursing, dirty looks, rude gestures, name calling, bad-mouthing, retaliation, and hurting another person. How many times have you said something you had to later go back and apologize for? Have you ever had to go back and undo a decision made in anger? The best way to cope with anger is to admit you feel it and then go to scripture for a way to fight the urge to act on it. Some helpful scripture to cope with anger includes: Psalms 37: 8, Proverbs 14: 17, Proverbs 14: 29, Proverbs 15: 1, Proverbs 15: 18, Proverbs 16: 32, Proverbs 19: 11, Ecclesiastes 7: 9, Ephesians 4: 26-27, 31, 32, Colossians 3: 8, and James 1: 19-20. None of us have the right to act on our anger towards another person. Wrath, justice, and vengeance belong to God and God alone. No matter what someone has done to us, it is between them and God. You never have a scriptural reason for taking anger out on someone or holding onto it forever. Focus your attention on resolving your anger in a Biblical way not a worldly way. Don't deny, suppress, or avoid anger—just don't let it control you and don't act on your anger.

Heavenly Father, I pray today for discernment in the area of anger. Help me recognize when I am letting my anger cause me to sin. Help me stop myself before I act in anger. Give me your strength to control my behavior so I don't do anything when angry to offend you. Help me, Lord, resolve any anger I've been carrying around with me. Lead me to the scripture I can use to fight my personal anger. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.