Be Angry And Sin Not

Today, as I was seeking the Lord about what to share with His people, there was something going on in my personal life that was job-related. I knew that I would have to address it. After all, I’m in the process of a 30-Day journey to Re-Inventing Myself.

I had approach my management with a situation that I needed his approval on. He verbally agreed and said that he had no problem with it. He, however, had stated that he needed to talk to the administrator about it. As my lesson would have it, they came up with an alternative solution which was not to my benefit!

While on my commute to work the following morning, one of the ladies, who usually takes the train, said to me, “that if she knew, what she knows now, that she would have trusted God more with situations of her life because of His ability to work the situation out for her benefit! She would have learnt earlier in her Christian walk to rest in the situation and watch God work it out!”

Wow, I thought to myself. The Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all truth even when we least expect Him to answer our prayer or questions, He does!

This brings me to today’s subject, “Be Anger, and sin not!”

Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV) "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Ephesians 4:31 (NKJV) Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Colossians 3:8 (NKJV) But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

The reality is that all of us face situations and challenges that may make us angry - no one is immune. When the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci was painting The Last Supper, he became angry with someone impeding his progress and lashed out at them. After that incident, he went back to his painting, but when he reached the point of painting the face of Jesus, he found that he could not do it without first making things right with the person who had caused his anger. Regardless of our emotional makeup, anger affects all of us and when we allow anger to control us, we feel poorly, knowing that we must make things right.

Just recently, a man was attending a baseball game at the arena of the opposing team. His team lost and upon exiting the stadium, some fans of the winning team spotted him in the losing team's jersey.

One sly remark led to another and a fight ensued! He was physically outnumbered and was beaten down by these exuberant fans. He was hospitalized and the winning team reps had to call a press conference denouncing the actions of valued fans.

Sinful anger is self-centered and destructive and should not be condoned!  This lies centered in our Adamic nature! 

Oftentimes we meet with anger when we have been mistreated, our feelings hurt, or an attack on our pride has been made.  We have been overlooked for a much-needed, muched deserved, and long awaited elevation/promotion on the job!  This act of sinful anger must be dropped like a bad habit!

Choosing to overcome this emotion will take Divine intervention.  It must be said that this is easier said but done but we must strive to perfect this area of our christian life!  Afterall, for some people in the world, we will be their first experience as to who God is.

A root of the emotion of anger is frustration.  Life has a way of overwhelming us!  Nothing we touch, do, or desire is working out.  It seems as though everything that can go wrong, is going wrong!  Therefore, our frustration grows and become a mountain and makes it hard for us to deal with our frustrations.

Nothing causes anger as quickly as thinking too highly of ourselves. The more exalted we are in our own eyes, the more justified we will feel in being angry with the person who offended us.

Proverbs 13:10 (NIV) Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

When we stay angry, we act as if we were judge and not God. Romans 12:19 says:

"Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath, for it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. No, if your enemy is hungry feed him"

If we hold a grudge, we act as though God were not a just judge. We act as though we are the moral guardians of the world, and if we don't hold this wrong against this person, it's going to slip away into oblivion, and a great injustice will go unrequited. But this is sheer unbelief. Vengeance belongs to God. He will repay. It is his business, not ours. So again, holding a grudge puts us in the place of God

Proverbs 15:18 (NKJV) A wrathful man stirs up strife, But he who is slow to anger allays contention.

Short tempers and long grudges breed strife and disunity in the church.

It has been proven and various studies that anger that is unresolved often leads to health problems.  Some of these women experienced depression, headaches autoimmune diseases, and obesity when unresolved anger was allowed to fester and flourish.

We can place unrealistic expectations are subconsciously and consciously upon ourselves resulting and frustating, leading back to angry.  This angry is the direct result of not being able to attain goals or desires that we think we should have or need to attain.

According to Richard Walters,a psychiatrist in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

He writes:

People will be murdered today because of someone's anger. Others will die from physical ailments resulting from or aggravated by their angry feelings. Many people die in anger-related auto accidents. While others carry out the angriest act of all: suicide. Countless relationships die little by little as resentment gnaws away at the foundations of love and trust. Anger is a devastating force, and its consequences should sicken us.

Proverbs 14:17 says, "An angry person does foolish things."

Inappropriate anger will have you bent on or seeking revenge.  The world says "Don't Get Mad!, Get Even!  We, as Christians, do not have the luxury of such an attitude.  The Bible admonishes us to not render evil for evil.

Even though the reason for our angry may be justified, we must learn not to lash out at our offender(s) or those who stand idly by while witnessing the wrong.  A powerful tool is to delay our reaction to the situation.

This may mean that, if on the job, you will need to excuse yourself and make your way to the lavatory and beseech the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Leave the office and take a walk.  Call a trusted friend with wisdom to talk through the situation.

The following scriptures confirms this:

Proverbs 14:29 (NKJV) He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

Proverbs 15:18 (NKJV) A wrathful man stirs up strife, But he who is slow to anger allays contention.

Proverbs 29:11 (NKJV) A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.

Finally, Proverbs 15:1 says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath."   Deflect the anger because shouting, verbal abuse, and name calling is never acceptable behavior.  This will only give you something that you will need to repent and than ask forgiveness for.

Keep short accounts This seems to be Paul's biggest concern. Normally, anger should die a very quick death. Its natural life span as an emotional reaction is certainly less than 24 hours. But if we choose to nurse it along and care for it, our anger can stay alive and thrive for years, and that is a sin. Paul says:

Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV) "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Now, "Do not let the sun go down" may be a figurative expression. Paul may simply mean, "Don't prolong your anger."

Friends, if we harbor anger for too long, if we allow it to turn into bitterness and hatred, it will eventually explode.

Fred Buechner says, "Of the seven deadly sins, anger is probably the most fun. Many folks feast on their anger. The chief drawback, however, is that we are devouring our own selves." If you are mad at someone for something which happened two weeks ago, two years ago, or two decades ago, you are choosing to be angry. They are not making you angry, it is your choice, and it is a sin, and it is very destructive emotionally.

Perhaps the most effective weapon for controlling inappropriate anger in the Christian's arsenal is:

Forgiveness takes the wind and power out of anger.  Forgiveness alerts the world and others that we are not in the mode of seeking retribution against those that have harmed, belittled, or unjustifiably denied us a promotion.

We can forgive, simply because of Christ.  Through Him,  we have been forgiven and can afford to give this gift to others as we walk along this journey.  Understanding that "we" are imperfect people, surrounded by imperfect people who will at one time or another willingly, or unwillingly cause us to be angry.

Forgiveness also keeps us from digging up yesterday's wrongs and hurts in the graveyard of decaying, unproductive stuff that will continue to fuel our anger and carrying an offence.

1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

Anger is a very powerful emotion that each of us possess! We must learn how to use it wisely and effectively. Once angry, we must learn how to let go of that anger so that it does not taint our relationship with God, ourself, and others.

Anger breeds where FEAR abounds! The fear of losing something or someone we love. The fear of being looked at in a negative light. The fear that we are not measuring up to someone else's expectation.

FEAR will paralyze us and deny us the fulfillment of our dreams, hope, and peace if we let it! God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

The emotion of anger steals our power, love, and peace of mind. Positive FEAR allows us to understand and reverence God while obeying and walking in the spirit of His Word. We need to apply wisdom whenever a situation threatens to pull us out of the character of Christ.

This is when we should stop, look, and listen. Stop flowing in the negative emotion of anger, look at what "negative" force is at work, and listen to that still small voice of the sweet Holy Spirit.

Thank you for visiting my place of thoughts, leave a comment, share your thoughts, or simply leave a scripture! Remember, He IS coming back for a church without a spot or wrinkle!

Thank you Father for again leading us into all truth! Help us to continue to lean on you the more. Remind us to rest in you in every situation, in all hurts and pains, and in all things that serve to deter us from reinventing ourselves. Thank you Father for using our brothers and sisters in Christ to give us answers in just simple conversations that we might know that you hear us and that you are concerned about us and that you do answer…In Jesus’ Name…

Amen