EPHESIANS 4:26

“BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”

I bet you never get angry. The water is different at your house. Right! We all get angry from time to time. The problem with anger is we normally let our emotions get the best of us and say or do things we normally would not. We get angry in traffic (confession time). We get angry at the weather, like that’s gonna help. We get angry at the alarm clock. Can I get an amen? Fortunately, we have some instructions in God’s Word about how to handle our anger.

Paul gives us some vital instructions in verses 26 and 27 (we will see that verse tomorrow). I felt the definition in HELPS Word studies was too good to not include the whole thing. The word for “be angry” is orgízō. It means to “be angry, as expressing a ‘fixed anger’ (settled opposition). Orgízo is positive when inspired by God – and always negative when arising from the flesh. “Sinful (unnecessary) anger’ focuses on punishing the offender rather than the moral content of the offense.”

APPLICATION

Wasn’t that good? Anger can be good or bad, depending on the source. We all know the story of Jesus getting angry in the Temple and overturning the money changers’ tables (Matthew 21:12). But listen, that does not give us the right to run in somewhere and start tearing things up. James 1:20 says, “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Just because Jesus did it, that does not mean we should act that way. Remember, He was (and still is) God.

I like verse 26 because I can easily follow this command. Well…the first two words, lol. But the verse does not stop there. Paul goes on to tell us, “And yet do not sin.” Did you know Paul was quoting Psalm 4:4? It says, “Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Selah.” It’s not an exact quotation but obviously the same idea is there.

What gets you angry? Can you get angry and not sin? That’s a hard one, isn’t it? Paul closes this verse by telling us to make things right before we lay our heads down each night. I have to admit I haven’t always done that. That’s wrong. That’s not what God tells us to do here. Can you practice this verse today and then again tomorrow and the day after that? In the absence of anger peace arises.

O Lord, let me not get angry over things that are no importance to You. Help me keep my anger in check with all my loved ones.