“Word” of the Week
Posted On Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 By djansen
“Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity (Eph 4:26)”
Taking care of your anger before you go to sleep is a tough thing to do when you are steeped in self-defence mode. Self-talk, with the flesh on the throne (see Gal 5:18-20), will convince you to hang on to your anger because you deserve better than what you got. You are clearly the you innocent victim. With justice on your side, you convince yourself that your righteous anger is appropriate. However, the more you hang on to your anger the more the devil is handed an opportunity to get involved in your life….yes it’s the devil. The text doesn’t tell us how he does this (e.g. his demons get involved or what), it just says he can get involved. 2 Corinthians 1:10,11 also tells us the devil is handed an advantage when we fail to forgive. Held anger and unforgiveness definitely have a few things in common, which might clue us in as to why the devil gets involved in both of them. The point is not to figure out ‘how’ the devil might get involved, but that he does. These days, the ‘injustice’ cries seem to be sounding off their alarms louder than ever…. and so they should, but where are the alarms of anger and unforgiveness? Ephesians 4, and 2 Cor. 1 reminds us that the devil is not only involved with the perpetrators of injustice, he’s involved with the victims of injustice.
Don’t let your self-righteous anger spill over to the next day leading to an entrenchment of unforgiveness. The devil likes it, but God doesn’t.