In your anger do not sin

Ephesians is a letter to Christians who have been chosen, loved and adopted by God the Father, by connecting us with Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit giving us new life.

In chapter 4 verse 26 Paul says “In your anger do not sin’: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…”

Sometimes we are angry for good reason. We have been wronged, we have been cheated, we have been abused. Someone has let us down, has been unfaithful or unloving. There is a righteous anger that rises up in us and wants justice to be done.

But we can sin with our anger, even if it is righteous. We sin when we want to take revenge. When we want to be the judge and the executioner ourselves and to not leave the outcome to God. When we lash out at someone – to hurt them. When we slander and gossip or work against someone.

And the advice is to not let a day pass without making sure our anger subsides. “Do not let the sun go down” might not literally mean you have to solve every single argument before you go to sleep but certainly it means we move quickly to deal with the anger in our own hearts and carefully speak with those who might have sinned against us, keeping “short accounts”.

That way, we do not let our hearts be full of bitter malice. We find our comfort in the justice of God and our joy in being part of the family of God.

Written by Graham Nicholls