Anger

Be angry and do not sin.  Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and don't give the Devil an opportunity.  All bitterness, anger and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness.  And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. (Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32 HCSB)

Why do we get so angry? Doesn't it seem like every day, with just one wrong word, or maybe even something as subtle as a glance, we become enraged and wanna destroy anyone we come into contact with.

Maybe not.  Maybe I'm just describing myself.  Unfortunately, I usually get pretty fired up easily.  I tend to be "passionate" about certain things, and when these things come into question, or someone's ignorance becomes apparent, I have been known to become angry.  This is not good.

So in Ephesians, Paul is demanding something simple from an apparently angry people: be angry and do not sin.  The two go hand in hand.  If we're not angry, our propensity to sin decreases.  Plain and simple.  Now if only it were that easy.

Hold on, there seems to be more advice.  "Don't let the sun go down on your anger."  So, don't leave anything that makes you angry unsettled?  Does that seem right?  So, if I'm mad at you because you ran over my mailbox, do I settle it before I go to bed by screaming at you and knocking down your mailbox?  Nah.  I just make sure I apply the first bit of advice too.  I don't get angry and I don't sin.  But how do I address this then?

More advice!!  Paul says, "All bitterness, anger and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness."  So, I can't throw eggs at your car in revenge because it displays all of these traits.  No fun (Just Kidding)!!  I can't be all of these things if I follow his first step.  These traits don't usually come up unless there's some sort of anger involved.  This is a kind of crazy anger to some degree.  The word wickedness usually denotes something evil or demonic.  This means that me being a hooligan and knocking out your taillights for messing up my mailbox mimics devilish stuff.  Not cool.

Paul also says, "And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another."  Stop right there.  So, in my little example, I forgive you.  Wow.  That might be hard.  Well, it would be hard, unless I hadn't already put away my bitterness and wrath and stuff.

Here comes the finisher!  That last part of the verse: "just as God also forgave you in Christ."  If you didn't necessarily feel like you wanted to follow these rules so far, this part is where the Holy Spirit should be putting you on a guilt trip.  When we look to Christ and the marvelous work He has done to reconcile us to God our Father, how can we even get mad at someone else?  Shouldn't we be filled with so much joy that we can't help but be happy?

When you read this passage, think about how we can use this in our day to day lives to advance the Kingdom of God.  We need to keep in mind that every person we come in contact with is observing us.  If we don't put aside our anger, whether it be with our brothers and sisters in Christ or those on the outside looking in, we will not be exemplifying our Lord.  Not cool.

My prayer is that we would all put aside our anger, settle in a Christ-honoring way, and look past it to focus on the big picture: how much God loves us, and how He commands us to spread His Word.

Your Brother in Christ,
Phillip