Ephesians 4:26 - Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
When you think about anger, do you tend to see it as a negative emotion rather than a positive one? It would be no surprise if you did, because for the most part, the anger that we experience day to day tends to do more harm than good. How then can we agree with Paul when he writes here that we should “be angry”?
First, think about what typically makes people angry. It could be bitterness, frustration, lack of control, conflict, being treated unfairly, and so on. Anger that is birthed out of these things tends to do the most harm to others because it can carry with it the need for retaliation. In other words, when things don’t go our way or we are treated poorly, our way of getting back at that pain is to inflict some pain of our own.
It is this type of anger that causes us to look at this verse and wonder how on earth Paul could write such a thing. However, what we must realize is that being angry is not always a bad thing. For instance, it is right to be angry at injustice. It is right to be angry when a wife suffers abuse at the hands of her husband. It is right to be angry at those who distort the truth, especially those who twist the gospel, leading many people away from the true God. This type of anger is right and justified, but even this anger does not permit us to retaliate with evil.
Anger should not be a long lasting emotion, but rather a brief moment that prompts you to do something about whatever made you angry in the first place, and to do it in a way that honors God. Paul tells us that we must not let the sun go down on our anger, which means that once you’ve felt that righteous form of anger, don’t carry it with you into the night or into the next day. If you do, you will find that the righteous anger that you were meant to feel for a moment, begins to morph into an unrighteous anger very quickly.
When you think about areas of your life in which you struggle, is anger one of those areas? What causes anger to burn inside of you and what do you typically do with it? Would you say that the anger you experience in yourself leans more towards the righteous or the unrighteous side of anger? If the negative version of anger is a struggle for you, take that to the Lord and ask others to help you. Unfortunately, this kind of anger can do more damage than we realize at times.
Be angry at what God is angry about. Be angry at sin. Be angry at the devil. Be angry at lies. Be angry at injustice. Don’t let the anger drive you or cause you to allow bitterness in your heart. Rather, experience it, then look forward to what must be done, believing that God gave you the ability to be angry for a reason. Just as Jesus was angry from time to time, but still good and righteous and without sin, we too can follow his footsteps, looking to him for our example on how to experience anger, but do it in a way that pleases God.
