Anger

“Be angry and sin not. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the Devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:26-27 CSB)

Anger is a natural human emotion, and as such it was created by God. That means it is not necessarily the negative and destructive emotion we often consider it to be. It can be a very justifiable response in certain situations. It can serve God’s purposes when handled rightly. It is much like a fire. Fire that is contained and controlled can be useful and helpful, but a wildfire is widely destructive of everything in its path. It destroys indiscriminately.

Anger that is left unchecked can be one of the most destructive forces in existence. If acted out as rage it can hurt or even destroy others. If ignored or otherwise not addressed, it will destroy, and that especially includes the one who is angry. Unresolved anger can poison the soul of the one who is angry.

We should note that this happens, of course, to the gleeful delight of Satan. Our anger can actually become his opportunity to gain destructive influence when we fail to deal with it adequately. He uses our anger as a vehicle for spreading his poison. We must not let him win, for if he does, he does so at our expense.

To keep this from happening, we must deal with anger by recognizing as best we can what caused it and by deciding to keep it controlled – like fire – until we can find resolution. If we seek the Lord with our anger, He will ultimately help us get to the resolution we need.

Lord, Help us to understand the potential of anger to either create good or become destructive, and help us through Your Spirit within us to choose to deal with anger as You lead us. Amen.