The 7th of 7... part 4...

Remember a little ways back when I suggested that to embody anger is to embody the enemy?  Do you remember that I mentioned that this was bad, and that we should always go to the Lord in prayer, rather than allow the enemy to take hold of any situation?  Well...

"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."

Ephesians 4:26-27, ESV

Bam!

Anger, when allowed to grow, turns into a sin.  Please understand, though, that we are not to avoid anger altogether.  We were given emotions to feel them, and as stated before, guttural feelings cannot be ignored.  What we do with them, however, is a different story.

Notice here, Paul tells the readers in the church at Ephesus to "Be angry and do not sin."  It's like he's telling them to have their anger, because there's nothing really wrong with that... but don't get crazy (Bon Qui Qui voice).  Once you've gotten to the point of sin, there's no stopping it.  It has become a monster, and it will run its course, even if that course has no end.  Naturally, as we've seen many times from 1 Corinthians 10:13, there will be means of escape provided to you, but we have to choose to take them.  And the first of them is to turn immediately away from your anger, and give it to the Father to handle.

Also, we should resolve each issue with each day.  Our model in life is Jesus Christ, who is One with the Father, and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  Ours should be, as well!  Holding onto anger, coddling it like we would a child, allowing it to grow and flourish into a behemoth that ruins the relationships we have, is not the answer. 

Again, I'll have to admit that I'm not great at taking this advice, but I'm trying not to let the enemy interact with my family anymore since starting this portion.  And, to be honest, that's the thing that really set it off in my head.  If I give full vent to my anger (Proverbs 29:11), then I am embodying the enemy.  In that moment, I am allowing satan to speak into my family.  Worse yet, I am sometimes CHOOSING that path, because I am allowing the full vent to just run free.  I cannot tell you how hard it is to write that down, and I cannot tell you how much my heart hurts to know that I would do such a thing to the ones I love the most. 

But you see, letting anger fester gives the opportunity to the devil.  It says it right above this in the verse chosen for this passage!  We freely give that chance to the prince of lies and deceit, and we allow him to interact with our family, our friends, and ourselves, and we excuse by saying that we were "venting."  We allow it, because we "had the right to be THAT angry."  We make the choice to invite the filthiest being in the universe into our heart and into our home, and we hide behind personality or circumstance or some other ridiculous thing that most certainly DID NOT keep us from turning upward instead of inward.

Don't be that guy any more.  Don't be that gal any more.  Choose to look up, and seek Him in your moment of anger... I promise, it will change your responses for the better!

God bless you all!!!