“Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26).
If there are two things that Christians are not very good at, they are “Righteous Judgement” and “Righteous Indignation.”
Probably the saddest thing about some of the outbursts of anger that I have witnessed is that I felt the outbursts were justified. They seldom are!
There is no shortage of things to be apoplectic about. Who hasn’t seen couples deliberately unpick the lives of their children in their quests to “have the last word”? Who hasn’t seen drugs and booze reduce families to penury? And who hasn’t watched good people being told that their anger against God and man must be justified because “someone-somewhere is failing them”?
This is indeed allowing the devil to get a foothold at the very centre of our being (Ephesians 4:27).
God has blessed us with strong emotions. If controlled by the Christian they display great love for God, and great hate for the Devil. But if left uncontrolled by the Christian they leave a trail of brokenness and confusion— “Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit” (Proverbs 25:28).
All those incidences of road rage that boil over into obscenities and murderous intentions are pre-loaded before any ignition key is even engaged. On any given highway there are too many frustrations vying for an outlet. It is there especially where Solomon’s words ring true: “Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9).
The first step to anger-free living is to accept how patient Christ has been with us. The second step is to practice that level of patience in our hearts every time something begins to upset us. It is only then that we will be able to “be angry and sin not!”
John Staiger
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