Anger

Today is the Fourth of July, and we are reminded that it was anger at the British government that led to the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, and ultimately to the formation of the United States. Anger is not always a bad thing. Everyone has experienced anger.  It is something that is common to the human experience.  Why do we get angry, what does God say about anger, and what can we learn about it that will help us follow Him more closely? Paul writes in Ephesians that we are to:

“Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)

This is such an interesting verse.  We might think that God would tell us to not be angry, or that anger is a sin.  But He does not say this in this verse. Rather He tells us to be angry, and yet to not sin.  For some reason this verse has baffled me for years.  I have always felt that there is something more than the normal teaching that this verse is telling us.  What is God teaching us with this verse? Beyond not acting in anger, which the Bible clearly teaches, is there more wisdom to be found here?  Perhaps by allowing us to be angry God is giving us a key to how to identify one of our worst sins, one that breaks God’s greatest commandment, the first and foremost of his commandments, the commandment to not have other gods, but rather to love God with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind. The first of the Ten Commandments is:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and delivered you from the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before Me.”  (Exodus 20:2-3)

Anger is something we have all experienced.  Some of us experience it daily.  It is common to all of humanity.  The part of the Ephesians verse that tells us to “not let the sun go down on our anger” is a command to analyze our anger and deal with it, and to do it daily, to not let it build up.  The part about not giving the “devil an opportunity” is a warning to us regarding the serious nature of anger and the doorway into our lives that it can open, making us vulnerable to very bad outcomes if it is not dealt with.  So what are we to do when we are are angry?  How do we analyze it in our lives?  What are we looking for?  What is it telling us about ourselves?  How do we “not let the sun go down” on our anger?

God tells us to “be angry” because anger reveals to us what is important to us.  If we are angry about God being dissed in some way, that might qualify as godly anger, revealing to us that God has first place in our life. But often when we are angry it is revealing to us things that are important to us that are not connected to God, but rather are related to our heart idols.  For example, if someone cuts us off in traffic, perhaps we are angry because they have dissed us – getting respect from others might be our idol in this case.  Or maybe we are just a selfish and greedy driver, always wanting to be ahead of the other drivers, not wanting others to get in our way, living as though our drive to work is more important than theirs – self is our idol.  Or if things in our life are not happening the way we think they should and it makes us angry, our anger might be revealing to us that having control over our life is our idol, that we think we know how things should be going rather than trusting that God is in control.  If circumstances are making our life hard or difficult and we are angry about it, perhaps comfort is our false god, our idol, and when we are uncomfortable, when we do not have the happiness or pleasure we want, we get angry.  Etc., etc., etc.

Our anger reveals to us what is important to us, what we have set our mind on, what we think will give us joy, peace, life itself.  It is in some ways the thermometer of our soul, revealing to us if we are hot or cold towards God, or towards our heart idols.  Do we get angry when we don’t get our way?  What are we not getting that is making us angry?   Are we angry because God is being dissed, or because we are being dissed?  Whose kingdom are we building?  Whose kingdom is being blocked by the thing that is making us angry?  Are we angry because the kingdom of “Me” is being hindered, or the kingdom of God?

Like a barometer, our anger often reveals the current and future condition of our soul.  It not only indicates our current condition but also predicts the potential future state of our lives, hence the warning of not dealing with it in the verse.  It is like an alarm bell going off, warning us that there is a problem.  Warning us that we are looking to the wrong things for life.  Warning us that we have taken our eyes off of Jesus, and are not looking to heaven but rather to the things of this world for joy, fulfillment, and meaning in our life.

What is your anger showing you about yourself?  What are the things that really anger you?  What are some things that made you angry today? Yesterday? Last week? Are you angry about something right now?  Which kingdom is being hindered by the things that anger you?  If it is your kingdom, Jesus says “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand“.  He tells us to “Be angry, yet do not sin”. He says to “not let the sun go down on our anger”.  He warns us that if we do not deal with our anger, if we do not keep a short account and deal with our anger in a timely manner, we are giving the devil an open door to mess with us and hurt those around us.

Next time you are angry, stop……and think.  Analyze it.  Ask yourself why you are angry.  What are you angry about?  If it is not godly anger, what is the idol behind it? Is your anger building others up, or tearing them down?  Is it driving destructive behavior, causing you to sin, or is it promoting the kingdom of God?  Is it giving the devil an opportunity to get into your life and do damage to you and to those around you, or are you dealing with it in a timely manner?  We are to listen to and analyze our anger daily, letting it reveal to us the idols that remain in our life, that we may turn away from serving them and turn to God.  Our anger reveals to us where we do not completely trust God, where we do not trust that He is in control of our lives and has our best interest at heart. It reveals to us where we are looking to other things, looking to idols for joy, fulfillment, and meaning in our life.  Where do you see anger in your life?  What reading is it giving you about your life?  Where is it telling you that your heart is?  Are you dealing with it or are you letting the sun go down on it?

Lord God almighty, our Father in heaven, I come before you now in the name of Jesus and acknowledge that I experience anger of some kind almost every day, and that it is often because I am looking to false gods rather than looking to You for life.  I repent of this, and ask that You would use my anger to reveal to me the idols in my life, that I may repent of looking to them for my life.  Deliver me from selfishness, from greed, from lust, from pride, from arrogance, from my self-centeredness, from ___________________________, and teach me how to follow You more completely every day.  Teach me to not look to the things of this world for my life, but to look to You and to You alone for life, for joy, and for peace.   I pray that I would trust You completely in all things, and that I would fully realize just how much You are in control of all things in my life, regardless of how it looks sometimes.  Reveal to me the true source of anger in my life, and help me to repent of the idolatry that is causing it.  I ask these things in Jesus name.

“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it— a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  (Colossians 3:1-17)