January 20, 2023

RELEASE ANGER

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Ephesians 4:26 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

Most of us have had those moments in life where we felt we had a right to be angry. Some live in a constant state of being angry because of what someone did to them. They feel justified in their anger. Let’s take a quick look at what the Word of God has to say about anger. In Genesis 49:7 anger is described as “fierce” and “cruel.” In Exodus anger is “burning” (11:8) and “blazing fury” (15:7). In Deuteronomy 7, it is associated with the words “burn” and “destroy” (verse 4). In Psalm 2:5 anger is terrifying and fierce. This is just a small sampling of God’s view of anger. It is fierce, cruel, burning, blazing fury, terrifying, and destroys. These don’t strike me as the way I’d like to be described. Yet, if I allow anger to control my life this is the way people will look at me—and rightly so. In the New Testament we are specifically told to get rid of anger (Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8). But then we are convinced that our anger is justified because of what someone did or didn’t do. They hurt us. They hurt someone we love. They broke the law of God. They are a terrible person. Etc. We justify our anger and just keep burning on the inside. What if we really practiced what Paul instructs us to do in our passage today? What if we choose to never allow a day to go by before we release our anger? Every day we choose to forgive. Every day we choose to hand the injustices of life over to our Heavenly Father. I believe the results would be that we can discover the peace of God. A peace that allows us to sleep at night instead of planning our revenge. A peace that permeates our being and allows us to be present with our family. To enjoy the moment and have joy. This is not something we can do by ourselves. It requires a choice on our part and a surrender to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We must choose to release the injustices of our lives to the Lord. We must allow Him to be the One who sets the record straight.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit I need Your help in overcoming anger in my life. I choose today to release all my anger to You. Show me any area of my life where I am carrying anger. Forgive me for carrying that anger. Help me to release that anger to You.

“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”