Ephesians 4:26,27 Our Moods–Control Anger
“Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (ESV).
This is part two in our five-part series about the Christian lifestyle—our morality, our moods, our money, our mouths, and our manners. This series was inspired by Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, Belief That Behaves.
Dr. Jeremiah believes that “Paul wasn’t talking about getting angry at things like traffic or the day’s news. He was talking about getting mad at your ‘neighbor.’” When we get angry at a friend, neighbor, or acquaintance, it becomes personal, and when it gets personal, feelings get hurt, relationships are broken, and harm is done to the soul and spirit of the offender and the offended. Disagreement can be spoken, and anger can be expressed without “calling names” or attacking a person’s personality.
We have examples of Jesus getting angry. The occasion of Jesus clearing the temple of the merchants is well known. He showed His anger in actions and words. He was angry because some people were using the requirement to offer animals for sacrifice as an opportunity to rob and cheat people by offering “acceptable” animals at a high price. Some suggest that the merchants may have bribed the priests to refuse many animals people brought for the required sacrifice so they would have to buy other animals from the merchants at extravagant prices. In Matthew 21:12,13 Jesus called the merchants “a den of thieves” and overturned their tables and drove them out. Jesus disciples quoted Psalm 69:9, saying, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” There are two accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple in this way. The passage in John 2:13-17 was early in His ministry, just after He changed water into wine. The passage in Matthew 21:12,13 describes an occasion at the beginning of Holy Week, just after Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and had been hailed as the “Son of David.”
Jesus also exhibited anger in Mark 3:4,5 as He healed a man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The religious leaders had been looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, and healing on the Sabbath, evidently, was against their rules. Before He healed the man, Jesus asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. They refused to answer Him. In verse five we are told, “He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored.” Jesus was angry that the religious leaders raised their rules above the helping of a man who needed to be healed.
In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus takes the religious leaders to task for misleading the people, for putting strict rules on them, and for misinterpreting the writings of Moses to their own benefit. He accuses them of having neglected “the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”
Jesus’ anger was addressed against misuse of His Father’s house and the uncaring and unsympathetic attitudes of those in charge of the Temple. In other words, they were misusing their power for their own benefit and not showing the love of God to those in their care.
In Ephesians Paul does not tell us not to be angry: rather he tells us to control our anger and not let it control us—put a limit on it, and end it before we go to bed; do not let it cause us to go too far in expressing it by causing permanent damage to a relationship; be sure we control it rather than letting satan take over our emotions for his benefit. Anger is a strong emotion and it takes the support of the Holy Spirit to keep it in control. It may be difficult to pray or even hear from the Lord during periods of anger, but we need to do so in order to use anger at appropriate times and in an appropriate way.
Come back tomorrow for part three, Our Money.