ANGER

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. -  Ephesians 4:26-27

This Bible verse tells us that anger gives the devil an opportunity to enter our lives, but it also tells us to be angry and continues to say do not to sin when you get angry. How will we know that our anger is sinful or not?

The Bible helps us to understand in Mark 3:5 that Jesus, our Lord and Savior became angry at the Pharisees for their lack of compassion on the people. He became angry but didn’t lose control of Himself.

Jesus became angry again in Mark 11:15 when He saw people making money in the name of religion in the Temple. He drove them out.

Jesus does not lose control of Himself but he may be angry at people in our world today who like the Pharisees have no compassion for poor suffering people or when He sees people today making money in the Temple in the name of religion.

Such anger when it concerns the Glory of God and the good of other people is not Sin but anger that concerns our own glory is Sin(I am are angry because somebody cheated me or somebody inconvenienced me or somebody disturbed my plans or made things difficult for me).

When Jesus was slapped, He never said anything but He forgave them. So when the Bible says be angry but don’t sin, we need to recognize what type of anger is SIN and what type is not SIN.

1.     Anger that has got nothing to do with us but only with the glory of God and the good of others is righteous anger.

2.      Anger that has got anything connected to us is sin(the way somebody treats me or hurt me is sin)

The Bible continues to say, if you sin in this way (that is, got angry because of your own glory), make sure your anger doesn’t stay with you for more than 12 hours.

Our heavenly father gives us this second offer for our own salvation because He recognizes that a lot of believers are not wholeheartedly enough to have victory offer the wrong type of anger and therefore cannot choose the best that he offers.

Make sure the sun does not set over your anger. Which means don’t go to sleep with an unresolved anger.

Brother Zac was talking on this issue and he said, many of us before we go to bed make sure to brush our teeth to be certain there is no particle of food still there in our teeth. How much more careful we should be to make sure that some left over bitterness or anger is not still there in our hearts not cleansed away before we go to sleep.

This means husbands and wives should resolve every matter before they go to sleep. Brother Zac said Seek to overcome anger but until you do, make sure you settle it before you go to bed.

WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN ABOUT BELIEVERS WHO CARRY ANGER, BITTERNESS AND HATRED IN THEIR HEARTS AGAINST OTHERS FOR DAYS, MONTHS AND EVEN YEARS?

WE CAN SAY, THEY HAVE NO FEAR OF GOD OR RESPECT FOR THE WORD OF GOD.

Are you jealous because somebody younger than you is more blessed than you?

Do you rejoice like you should for him or are you jealous? That jealousy will turn into anger and you will never know what the final result will be.

When you let anger stay in your heart, you give the devil an opportunity – Ephesians 4:27

1.      You give the devil an opportunity to possess and control you.

2.      To destroy you.

3.      To bring confusion in your life.

4.      Anger can also lead to murder.

We have to be good examples of Christ but we cannot do that until we seek after the word of God.

Jesus Christ came to save us from all sin so what is the point if we continue to stay in our sins without growing to the level he would love us to be at, let’s seek God with all of our heart and ask Him to deliver us from the habit of anger.