Anger is a touchy subject, and most of us were never taught God’s way of dealing with this powerful emotion in a healthy way. Many Christians are so afraid of their own anger, they deny its existence and attempt to push down its ugly presence. There are others who are comfortable in their anger and use it to feel powerful, but at the same time push down their feelings of fear and hurt. Whether our anger makes us feel bad or powerful, God gives us explicit instructions on how to deal with this universal human emotion. The Biblical directive does not say “don’t get angry” but “when angry, do not sin.” So the question is- how can we get angry and not sin? The imperative directive is this- do not keep holding on to your wrath, exasperation, fury, or indignation day after day! When we don’t work on letting go,it gives our spiritual enemy a gateway into our hearts that will blind us, and bring devastation to our personal, spiritual, emotional, and physical health. As we choose to hang on to anger, we will become depressed or bitter, and miss the experience of love, joy and peace that God longs for us to know. Surely all of us have allowed the sun to go down on our wrath, but even when we desire to get rid of the anger;it may take many suns to work the emotional baggage attached to our anger out. So the most important issue here is- we must keep turning back to Jesus, and continue working on releasing the layers of anger in our heart. As we release, Jesus will replace the anger with His healing love. In time we will experience the emotional and spiritual freedom to forgive, put it down, and move on with God’s good plan for our lives.

“When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath [your exasperation, your fury or indignation] last until the sun goes down. Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give not opportunity to him]” (Ephesians 4:26-27).