“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath…” (Ephesians 4:26).

The initial emotion of anger is not sin. It’s a signal. Everyone experiences certain physiological symptoms that accompany the emotion of anger. These may include teeth grinding, fists clenching, flushing, paling, numbness, sweating, muscle tensions and temperature changes. This is God’s way of alerting us that we are about to do or say something that we will regret. If that anger is not quickly and Scripturally dealt with, it will turn into wrath and become sin.

Our anger is wrong and will never accomplish anything good. James 1:20 says, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Our anger will never accomplish God’s righteous purposes. Instead, it will leave a trail of broken relationships and wounded spirits.

One of the biggest reasons we don’t get victory over anger is because we feel we don’t need to. We feel justified in our anger. We feel we have a cause for our anger. We feel we have a right to be angry.

I heard of one man who explained the reason for his anger as: “It keeps the family in line.” He said, “I know it’s not a good way to raise kids, but it works. When I get mad, they quiet down and do what I tell them to do.”

That man’s approach will probably work for a while. But you cannot violate Scripture without there being consequences. If he is controlling his family with anger, he will ultimately pay a very heavy price because he is sowing the seeds of bitterness and rebellion in the hearts of his family.

Don’t justify your anger by calling it “righteous.” Don’t excuse it by labelling it as “passion.” Anger is just plain wrong; and if we have hurt or damaged others by our anger, then we need to take responsibility for it and ask for their forgiveness.