“When you are angry, do not sin.” – Psalm 4:4 NCV
Anger. Should we feel it? Here’s what the Bible has to say: ‘Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry – but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life…Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.’ (Ephesians 4: 26-27; 29 MSG). God gave us every emotion we have, including anger. The Bible says: ‘When you are angry, do not sin’ (Psalm 4:4 NCV). See the word ‘when’? God knows that we’re going to get angry at times, but He wants us to handle it the right way. When we’re feeling angry, instead of denying it or behaving in a way we later regret, we can use it to bring about positive change. Talking to people about why we’re angry, and calmly expressing our point of view, can bring about healing and solutions to the issue. But if we start expressing our anger in bad ways, such as saying things in the heat of the moment, losing perspective on the situation or even bottling it up until the anger explodes, we’re not handling the emotion in the way that God wants us to. What we say can be stuck in someone’s memory for their whole lives. Our words have power and if we’re reacting out of anger and saying things we don’t really mean, we can have a huge impact on other people. It’s not bad to feel anger, it just needs to be expressed in the right way. God wants us to be in control of our anger rather than letting our anger control us.
What Now?
Think about the last time you were really angry. Write down anything you can remember about the situation, who was involved, how you felt, and so on. Keep your notes safe – we’ll be using them again over the next few days.
Source: Culled from United Christian Broadcasters.
STAY BLESSED
