Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:26-27).
We've all got that one person in our lives, the person who really knows how to "push our buttons."
Very often it is someone very close to us, like a family member.
There is a person like that in my life. Normally, I am not an angry person. I can get a little upset or disappointed but it takes an awful lot for me to lose my temper. This particular person has been stretching my patience to the limit recently. There have been a few times in the last couple of weeks when I have had to simply walk away and find a quiet place to pray away from this person.
But, just as much as they are, I am responsible for my own actions and response to their behavior. Although I have not sinned in my anger by saying or doing things I shouldn't, I have gone to bed angry more than once recently.
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The Bible says, "Be ye angry and sin not..."
Anger, in and of itself, is not wrong. There are times when anger is justified. It is right to be angry over sin and right to be angry when a real injustice is done. But, it is not right to sin in our anger. Some parents will strike their children in anger. Some people may spew out foul language when they feel they've been wronged by another person. Those reactions are not just hurtful, they are sinful.
"..let not the sun go down upon your wrath..." Recent studies have confirmed what common sense has always told us. Anger is directly linked to an increased risk of heart disease. The physical effects are not the only reason God has warned us not to go to bed angry. If you fall a sleep angry, you're more likely to continue to be angry the next day, and that anger will just continue to grow and fester and may cause you to make decisions you otherwise would not.
"Nether give place to the devil." Anger that we hold on to can lead to bitterness and even hatred, both of which are a wide open door for the enemy to enter into our relationships and other aspects of our lives. If we want to live for God and His glory, we need to slam those doors shut in the enemy's face. How do we do that? By hearing and obeying the Word of God. In the matter of anger, it means choosing not to sin in our anger and never going to bed angry. The other person may not want to restore a right relationship with us, but that doesn't stop us from doing what we should do. That is, giving the anger to the Lord and allowing Him to take care of the situation. Then, we will be at peace with Him and have His peace in our hearts.
Don't let the sun go down...
Father, thank You for Your Word and how it teaches us to live rightly for You. Help us to never give place to the devil in our lives, whether by anger or anything else. Remind us, Father, to give it all to You every time and to trust You to take care of us and the situation. Help us to live for Your glory and not be ruled by our anger. Give us Your perfect peace in every moment of every day, no matter what others may say or do to us. In Jesus' Name I pray, amen.
{Daily Selah} is a mini-devotional, a pause to ponder about the Lord & how He wants us to live.
Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture quotations from the King James Version (KJV).
(The KJV is public domain in the United States. Crown copyright in the United Kingdom.)
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