GODLY ANGER

Think of this: Every person on the planet has a temper. Why do you think that
is? Do you think the devil created anger? No way! Satan never created anything.
He doesn't have the power to create. All he does is pervert the godly things God
created.
It's God who gave us the capacity to get angry. Anger has a godly function. But
with most of us, it's been perverted. We don't need to get delivered of a
temper; we need to learn how to manage that anger and direct it the way God
intended — not toward people, but toward the devil and evil.
There is a well-known passage of Scripture that talks about a positive use of
anger. Yet this passage is most often interpreted in a way that loses the true
intent of what Paul was saying. Ephesians 4:26-27 says,
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give
place to the devil".
This is usually interpreted as, "God knows you are only human, and you will
sometimes get angry. That just happens. But it doesn't become sin unless you let
it persist. So make sure you confess and forsake your anger every night before
you go to bed."
There is no doubt that getting over anger quickly has great benefit. Confessing
and forsaking anger before you go to bed every night is a good thing to do. But
that is not what this verse is teaching. It's nearly the opposite.
Paul is saying there is a godly anger that is not sin. God gives us a command to
get angry with a righteous anger. Then he says, "Let not the sun go down on your
wrath". What happens when the sun goes down? Typically we stop working. The day
winds down, and we rest and go to sleep. Paul is saying, "Don't let this godly
anger ever stop working. Keep it awake. Stir it up and keep it active!" Then
verse 27 continues, "Neither give place to the devil". If we don't keep a godly
anger active within us, we are giving place to the devil. What a revelation!
There is a righteous use of anger. Not understanding this has rendered many
Christians so passive, they don't get mad at the evil in this world. Therefore,
Satan is having a free shot at everything we hold dear and holy. Our society is
under attack, and our righteous anger that God has given us as a weapon is kept
in its sheath and not used. This needs to change.