"'Be angry, and do not sin,' do not let the sun go down on your wrath. (27) nor give place to the devil." Ephesians 4:26-27 NKJV
The Greek word here for 'place', is topos which emphasises that believers can actually give ground in their lives to satanic control. But this doesn't mean that we can just become angry and let rip at someone and then the blame the devil for it all. If that was the case, all of us could go out and have affairs, be the meanest person around and rob people and say, it was not my fault, the devil was in control. No, it means that you gave him the control. What we have to be careful of, is our anger. If we don't control it, the devil can get in and use us to bring about mayhem and division in our lives and the life of the church.
Most people, at sometime in their lives, fall to anger, some more regularly than others. To be angry is not always sinful. People have righteous anger, rather like Jesus when He cleared the temple from people who were using it as a marketplace. However anger that burns within us is dangerous. It can bubble away within until, POW, it erupts and that can cause devastation, whether it be in a relationship, a workplace or in the community. The moment we give in to anger, we have lost control. Don't give the devil an opportunity, rise above it. Kenneth Copeland often says, 'If you let the devil into the back seat of the car, pretty soon he's gonna want to drive.' Do you get the idea? Take control of it it before it takes root and ruins things.
A lot of married couples fall out this way. One of them offends the other and instead of putting it right straightaway, they carry it on and an atmosphere is caused where neither one of them will speak or say they are sorry. This is where the devil can get in. It only takes one little spark to cause a forest fire. (James 3:5). Our text today highlights this fact: 'do not let the sun go down on your wrath'. All it does is give the devil a foothold. That's all he needs to come into a person's life and causes devastation. Don't allow this.
The more we focus on being wronged, the more it affects us. We allow the offence to go round and round in our heads and then, we can begin having conversations with ourselves, plotting what we'll say back to the person or how we will take revenge. We can become so wound up about it, that we may begin to make inner vows such as, 'I'll never allow anyone ever to do that again' etc. etc. When we have been wronged, we can allow it to damage our whole feelings about the person and it can soon turn into hate. Don't allow this. Nip it in the bud, quickly.
"It's ok for you to say that, but you don't know the hurt it caused me.' You're right, I don't know the hurt it has caused you. but I can see the hurt that it is doing to you now because you're not letting it go. Let it go!
You may well be in a position such as this. Someone has offended you and it hurts. If that person is living within your home, then action needs to be taken straightaway. Life's too short for this type of thing. Can you forgive and forget the situation? Or can you talk the matter through with the person or with a trusted friend. That may help.
On the other hand, do you need to go to someone and tell them that you are sorry? It is very important to do this. God expects us to put things right, not hold grudges or refuse to forgive others (Matthew 7:1-2 & Mark 11:25-26).
Jesus left us with peace (John 14:27). Why not flow in that peace right now!
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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