Don't Be An Angry Bird (Last Part)

Image source: Just Call Me Frank

Someone wrote, “Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something, without feeling the necessity to prove someone else wrong.” In a conflict, we don't have to prove the other person wrong in order to prove ourselves right. 

In our series on anger, we already saw that, as we go through the acronym A-N-G-E-R, that ANGER may be sin but it can lead to sin. We are commanded, "Be angry and do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26a, ESV). Second, that we should NEVER give the devil a foothold. The apostle Paul warned us, "give no opportunity to the devil." (v. 27) Third, that we are to GET RID of anger's sinful expressions. Verse 31 tells us, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Instead, we are to EXPRESS it appropriately. Even if we are angry, we must be careful that what comes out of our mouths are words that are not "corrupting talk...but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (v. 29)

Let’s finish verse 26: “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry”. So, you are to RELEASE yourself from anger quickly. Well, one application of this verse would be do not go to bed angry or do not sleep without resolving your issues with your spouse for example. But it goes more than that. Someone asked, “So, if I got angry at night, then I can wait until sun down before I forgive.” Then, we can read the verse as “do not let the sun go up while you are still angry.” In other words, it means do not allow anger to seethe or simmer in your heart. Remember that Paul quoted Psalm 4:4. “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Then, we read in verse 8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Not only do we avoid going to bed angry, but we also rest in the Lord. There are times we could not sleep because we are fuming mad. We keep on thinking about the wrong done to us. But it will do us more harm than good. It’s like worry. There’s no use losing sleep about it for we can’t do anything about it after all. Instead of becoming restless, we ought to rest in the Lord. In his article "Righteous Anger," Bob Deffinbaugh has this to say about Psalm 4,“Now, [David] remains still on his bed, not mulling over the sins of his enemies, or plotting their demise, but rather meditating on the virtues of his God… [Then] sleeping in peace, knowing that his defender is God, which assures him that he will dwell in safety.” 

So, that’s how we deal with A-N-G-E-R.

ANGER may not be sin but it can lead to sin.
NEVER give the devil a foothold.
GET RID of its sinful expressions.
EXPRESS it appropriately.
RELEASE yourself from it quickly.

My take? Don't be an angry bird.

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