It’s Okay to Be Angry—Just Don’t Sin
Adapted from Managing Your Emotions
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.
No one will ever reach a point in life where they don’t experience a wide variety of feelings. One of those is anger. Being angry causes many people to feel guilt and condemnation because they have the false idea that Christians should not be angry but be peaceful all the time.
Yet the Bible doesn’t teach that we are never to feel anger. It teaches that when we do get angry, we are not to sin. Rather, we are to manage or control our anger properly.
God gave me a revelation about this verse one time when I had been angry at my husband, Dave, as I was about to leave home to go preach. Guilt and condemnation whispered to me, How can you go out and preach to others after getting so angry this morning?
Of course, I was still angry, so even that question bothered me. But God caused me to understand that anger is just an emotion. Like all emotions, God gave it to us for a reason. Without the capacity to become angry, we would never know when someone mistreats us. We feel appropriate indignation when others suffer injustice. Without anger, we wouldn’t be moved to act or take a stand against wrongdoing and evil. Anger, like pain, is there to warn us that something is wrong. This motivates us to try to make it right or improve the situation.
As with all emotions, Satan tries to use and abuse our anger and lead us into sin. But we have the power to resist him.
Prayer of the Day: Help me, God, to manage my anger wisely, in a positive way so I will not sin. Show me how to manage my emotions in a way that honors You.
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