So, you have an anger issue? Who doesn’t? Let me ask that question a different way. Which of us did not have an anger issue before we accepted Jesus into our lives? But now that we are believers, we see his servant, Paul the Apostle, telling us how to manage that anger. By all means, be angry but don’t let your anger lead you into sin is what He says. And how do we avoid sinning when we are angry? He lets us into that secret as well.
Don’t you just love the Bible? It tells you what God wants you to do and follows up with its practicalities. Nobody can measure if your anger is leading to sin but all of us can tell when the sun is setting. So, God says to you and me: be angry but don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Ouch! Perhaps you are like the little girl who prayed that the sun will not set. She was not only angry, but she also desired to hold on to her anger. But that is exactly what we must not do – hold on to our anger. And the reasons are many.
First, it is extremely dangerous for your health and we start there as part of our series on divine health. If you missed any of them, click on the link and get up to date. How is anger bad for your health? Someone put it this way, there is only one letter difference between anger and danger. I guess that helps them to be angry but not to hold onto their anger. If it helps you, please feel free to adopt it.
To Aid Your Health, Don’t Be Angry
Your digestion suffers whenever you are angry. Haven’t you noticed how your stomach tightens up in anger? And when you are unable to digest your food, your stomach becomes upset and starts to cramp. But it is not the first organ to suffer. That is your heart. It starts to beat rapidly and more forcefully. We call that excess speed palpitations. Heart doctors say they can lead to irregular heartbeats, (arrhythmia).
Now, you start to move into the area where you need medical intervention. Your breathing rate also increases and these increased actions wear your body out faster. All because you forgot that you can be angry but not for too long. If you are the type who enjoys being angry, before long, your blood pressure may go up. And now, you are dealing with hypertension. Not to mention the headaches that might have become part of your life if you have an anger problem.
That advice to be angry but not until nighttime is truly for our own good, not for the target of our anger. Do you know that several times, the person with whom you are angry does not know your state? That means you are just wasting your emotions. It is better to do what the bible says. If your brother offends you, go to him and have a discussion.
At least then, he will know you are angry. In addition, that gives you the chance to solve the problem. Skin conditions such as eczema also result from prolonged anger. There are several others but these examples should be sufficient to tell you to be angry but not to sin. In addition to the health problems of anger, there are emotional and societal problems.
The Wrath of Man Works No Righteousness
The Bible is quite clear that the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. Think here of people who go out and kill people or shoot up a school. You know the only way that can happen is that they are angry. There is no way such violent people will participate in God’s righteousness.
Resolve today that you will not be a violent person, in words or deeds. The strategy is clear: be angry but do not sin.
Stay tuned
Maranatha!
