“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” -Ephesians 4:29
Anger itself is not a sin but it becomes a sin if the sun goes down. I think this is such a good rule; I try to live by this. Don’t go to bed angry. If you have to stay up till five in the morning, fine, but you’re not going to be able to sleep well anyway if you’re angry. You ever tried to sleep angry? It doesn’t go well. All you do is fantasize about all the cool things you’re going to do to this bad person. No, don’t go to bed angry, instead, reconcile with that person. If you can’t find the person, talk to a friend about what you feel angry about. It is so important that we learn that the command — to speak. Very often, we don’t speak because we’re afraid we’re going to push people away, or, we speak, mess up, and hurt people. There is a good in-between. Speak your mind, but do it with grace.
PRAYER: Thank you, God, for commanding us to speak. Help us to speak calmly and passionately about our anger.
REFLECTION: Have you gone to bed angry recently?
One Response
Thank God that I have not gone to bed angry recently. When one lives alone, our anger is usually directed at ourselves for whatever mistakes we make.
When I was married and had young children still at home, I experienced a lot of anger from time to time.