“Be ye angry, and sin not…” (Eph 4:26)

Many people have used Ephesians 4:26 to justify their anger; however, our anger is never justified. James 1:20 says, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Our anger is always carnal and it will never accomplish anything good. The following Scriptures reveal God’s perspective on anger:

• Psalm 37:8 says, “cease from anger and forsake wrath.”
• Proverbs 19:19 says, “a man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.”
• Proverbs 27: 4 says, “wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous.”
• Ecclesiastes 7:9 says, “anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”
• Galatians 5: 19-20 says,  “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, etc.”
• Ephesians 4: 31 says, “let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger… be put away from you.”
• Colossians 3: 8 says, “but now ye put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication ….”
• Titus 1:7 gives one of the qualifications for a church leader: “not soon angry.”  That means “not prone to anger.”
• James 1:20 says, “for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”

The initial emotion of anger and its accompanying physiological signs are not wrong. They are “red flags” that God uses to alert us that we are about to do or say something that will have devastating consequences. Some physical signs of anger include:

• clenching your jaws or grinding your teeth
• stomach ache
• increased and rapid heart rate
• sweating, especially your palms
• feeling hot in the neck/face
• shaking or trembling
• dizziness

Emotionally you may feel:

• like you want to get away from the situation
• irritated
• sad or depressed
• guilty
• resentful
• anxious
• like striking out verbally or physically