LIFE SCRIPTS

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:26‭-‬27 NIV

Scripture aludes to anger in a unique way’…in your anger, do not sin!’ Scripture seems to appreciate that anger is an emotion we must have at some point. However, it warns us that when displaying anger, we must not sin. Anger is an emotion caused by our dissatisfaction. By nature, it seeks to rectify the cause of dissatisfaction by a desire to punish or ‘get back’ at the one who is the cause of it. By nature, anger seeks vengeance. Yet we know that God is the bearer of vengeance. That vengeful drive resulting from anger is what brings about sin. When we get back at people who’ve made us angry, we do so with a vengeful spirit. We do so with a desire to ‘get even’. This is not the will of God for us as believers. So how must we deal with anger since at times, we can’t avoid it? The second part of verse 26 gives us a glimpse. Anger, like stress cannot be avoided. However, it can be managed. Scripture reminds us to ensure that the sun doesn’t go down before we deal with our anger. In fact the spirit of the message is not to let it fester too long because it will breed negative energy in us leading us to sin. Just by the instructions from this verse, I see that if I act out of anger, the chances of doing wrong are very high. So when angry, I must seek not to ‘let off steam’ onto others but work towards replacing the negative energy anger brings with a positive drive. Verse 27, gives us the danger of allowing anger to fester in us for too long…we lend the devil a foothold. We give him an entry point. Once he gains access into our hearts, our actions will get out of hand and we’ll find ways to justify them. In the heart of an angry person, there is a struggle…a struggle between allowing the spirit of God to use the dissatisfaction created by the anger to act positively and the negative energy driven by anger itself to ‘punish’ or ‘get back’ at the cause of anger. Anger will come. But God’s desire is that it comes as fast as it goes. However, as it comes it creates dissatisfaction in us. Ours is to ask the Spirit of God to help us manage it as we use the dissatisfaction to make a positive difference. A good example is when we see our politicians inciting people against each other. It is annoying and makes most of us very angry. However, we could choose to personalize and seek to ‘ hit back’ at them and their followers or seek to be the positive voice criticizing what they say as we offer solutions to the problems they create. A reaction driven by anger builds more anger. However, when we harness the feedback feeding the anger to act positively, we drive positive energy deflecting the anger. The strength, will power, know how and wisdom to do good when bad has been done to us comes only from the Spirit of God. Only when we are full of the Holy Spirit can we defeat anger.