MASTER YOUR ANGER, OR... -- Devotional for March 9, from "Good Seeds"

Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry – but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the devil that kind of foothold in your life. (Ephesians 4:26-27 TM)

How is it that we who stand for righteousness, and stand in Christ’s righteousness, can so easily fall out of step with that righteousness? One day, while busily working for God, I found myself working against Him – oh, not so much in my deeds or words, but in my attitude and tone. It was a case of anger welling up inside of me, threatening to do its dastardly work. Is it not true that when anger gets the best of us it tends to bring out the worst in us! But anger has its place and purpose. It is not the automatic antithesis of righteousness – indeed, it can be the very expression of righteousness! Psalm 7:11 says, “God is angry with the wicked every day.” But His anger with sinners does not mean He doesn’t love us, for He loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us (John 3:16). God’s anger was motivated by the sinful deeds of men, but it moved Him to righteous deeds on their behalf. Anger can be a weapon in the arsenal of God – or of the godly man. But anger is always wrong when it takes over and we are no longer in control of it. Ephesians 5:18 speaks of this regarding alcohol, but anger can have the same effect: “Be not drunk with wine, for it will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit.” When anger wields you, you become a weapon for destruction worse than any two-edged sword. But when you wield anger, it can become a weapon for righteousness. A weapon is a tool used in warfare. Anger can be used to destroy evil, but how often does it damage and destroy the innocent? How often do we “fly off the handle,” hurting the ones we love, our anger all the while making no inroads against the evil we claim to be attacking? There are times when we will feel and must express God’s righteous indignation. Indeed, NOT to be angry at the things that make God angry is to fall into the hands of the enemy. But anger is an emotion, and emotions are the caboose of our life’s train – not pulling it, but pulled by it. The engine is our spirit, controlled by God’s Spirit. Lesson #1: What makes us angry reveals how close we are to the heart of God. Lesson #2: Whether we are in control of our anger or anger is in control of us reveals how close we are to the Spirit of God. Jesus got angry, but did He give place to anger, letting it rule His life? No. And was He ever irritated and frustrated with others, to the point of barking and biting? No, never! Master your anger…or it will master you!