Anger without sin

Give no place to the devil

Eliminate wrath

-Ephesians 4:26-27

I was reading a few articles online recently and observed how people reveal their pain in the comments they leave. On either side of an issue, a person's response can come across as bitter or sweet. Old wounds they think are hidden or healed show up in the tone of a comment or a sharp word.

Passion is a good thing. Everyone has at least one thing that fires their zeal. God made us that way. Sometimes zeal heats to the boiling point. That's when the scripture, “Be angry and sin not” is an important one to remember. Anger in itself is not a sin or God would have said, “Do not sin by becoming angry.”

One of the best ways I've found to be angry and sin not is to recognize that my zeal alone cannot change a person, especially if they are zealously opposed to what I am zealously for (or vice versa). The Holy Spirit is the only person who can change another person. We can't even change ourselves. If we could pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, then Jesus died for no reason. No. He died to free us and redeem us, to reestablish the relationship between God and mankind that was broken when Adam sinned.

There are times when I can feel my ire rising. “Why can't they SEE? How can they not UNDERSTAND? It's so clear!” My logic kicks in. I try to think of ways to explain things that have already been explained and rejected (if only by a lack of action.) A though bubbles to the surface:

You can't explain someone into action. You can only inspire them to it.

I've learned when my ire is high, the best action to take is prayer. God will work on the ones who are willing – including ourselves. The Holy Spirit needs to be involved in the situation, not my ire.

Rise to the challenge, not to the bait.

Ephesians 4:26-32