Skip to main content

Measured Anger


 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.
 Ephesians 4:26-27

            Have you ever been accused of being less "spiritual" because you were upset about something? Have you ever thought that you could not even be angry about something that happened to you or perhaps an event in the world? The Word of God gives several instances of holy and righteous anger. God is described as angry, Psalm 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. Jesus was angry when He made a whip of cords and drove all the money changers out of the temple and overturned their tables (cf. Mark 11:15-17). Righteous indignation is righteous.
            However, there is a danger if we let anger go too far. Consider James 1:19, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Paul admonishes the Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. He adds in Colossians 3:8 that anger and wrath are to be put out of your mouth. So how do we reconcile these passages with Ephesians 4:26?
            We have to act responsibly. We cannot just fly off-the-cuff with our anger at any little offense. We must think out our anger and analyze our thoughts and motivations for righteous indignation. If there is cause for anger, we must control our anger (not let it become sinful). We must limit our anger (not let the sun go down on our wrath).  For the consequences of sinful anger are a source of standing for Satan in our lives. There is no place for the Accuser. 
Grace and Peace.
Ryan



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Raise an Ahaz

           Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.   And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree . 2 Kings 16:2-4                   When was the first time you drove a car? What about the first time you jumped off a diving board or gave a speech? After that first time, it certainly became easier. What about the first lie you told? Did it become easier? King Ahaz of Judah was evil and far from the example of David. Ahaz was the first to offer child sacrifices to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

At the Feet of Jesus

          How amazing it must have been to sit at the feet of Jesus. Have you thought much about that? What would it have been like to be around the Master? It was obviously life altering for His disciples, the majority of which (by historical accounts) would go on to violent deaths. Christians would go on to be persecuted throughout the centuries. Why? Jesus is worth the shame (Acts 5:41). Jesus is worth it all, because “there is no other name, under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). It is for this very reason we think about how amazing it would have been to personally sit at the feet of Jesus. To Talk to Him Must Have Been Tender           Talking to Jesus must have been so tender. We know that He would tell people what they needed to hear, and sometimes that was rather forthright (see Matt. 23), but he was loving and compassionate to those who wanted to learn from Him. Remember when parents were b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hanging On

Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God  Hebrews 12:1-2      In order to hang on, you must let go. This seems counterproductive at first glance. If we let go, we might fall and get hurt. If we let go, we might hurt someone else, and we might even hurt ourselves. Yet, letting go can also allow us to hang on to what matters.       We can hang onto the righteousness of God. This helps us to run with patience. When the race is long and arduous, and when life doesn’t end up as we planned, we can look forward to letting go of the doubts and sins that tell us to quit, give up, and stop running...
Post a Comment
Read more