September 30
Today's Reading: Isaiah 9; Ephesians 3
Today's Thoughts: In Your Anger, Do Not Sin
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. - Ephesians 4:26-27
What in the world does that mean? Where does “anger” fit in the list of the fruit of the Spirit?
We could say that getting that angry quenches the Spirit and takes away your peace so it must be bad. But what kind of anger doesn’t do that? Today, I got so angry that I saw red and started shaking. Anger is one thing but does the Lord call “seeing red and shaking with anger” sin?
If I think about the many verses that deal with God’s anger, we could say that He saw red too as the mountain in Exodus burned with fire. Moses was definitely furious when the people grew impatient and they started worshiping the golden calf. Personally, if you remain with the Lord and keep His perspective through the circumstance as you continue to represent Him, anger is not sin.
If the anger causes you to run off at the mouth, lose self - control and only represent the things you want to say and do, we have crossed over to being angry and sinning. Yes, this definition is definitely simplistic. When it comes right down to it, there are a few things to remember when (not if) anger happens:
- Ask God to help you maintain self control right at the time your anger flares.
- Remove yourself to honestly pray for His perspective on the situation.
- Go to the Word of God for wisdom.
- Lose the emotion before you try to communicate your point of view.
- Ask the Lord to help you communicate His heart on the matter
- Pray to not keep records of wrong regardless if there is an apology or not.
We are responsible for our behavior, not others. We are accountable before the Lord on how we handle the situation and then how we decide to resolve it.
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