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Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Ephesians 4:26

Posted on November 16, 2021

“When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,” and don’t stay angry all day.  – Ephesians 4:26 (ERV)

I remember one time I was angry with my parents. I felt they needed to know how mad I was at them, so I came inside the house, grabbed the handle of the basement door and slammed it as hard as I could. The door shut with a thunderous bang that echoed through the house. A moment later, I heard a loud crash and the shattering of glass. I knew then that I was in big trouble. It turns out that when I slammed the door, it shook the clock off the wall and sent glass shattering all over the kitchen.

I allowed my anger to get out of control and it lead to me doing something I regretted. In life, it’s easy to be angry. It’s really easy to get mad at how someone is treated or at something that feels unfair in your life. And if you let it, anger will grow to the point that it consumes your actions and emotions and explodes into something potentially bad, or damaging.

Today’s Bible verse doesn’t say that it’s wrong to be angry. There are going to be situations in life when we all get angry. It’s when we let that anger grow unchecked to where it causes us to sin that it becomes wrong.

Read More About Anger

Today, if you find yourself struggling with anger, ask God for His wisdom and help. Many times, He will show you a practical way to deal with your anger. Or, He might show you that you need to forgive someone who has done you wrong. He may show you a verse to help give you perspective on your situation. Whatever it is, God wants to help you navigate through your anger. He wants to provide you with the help you need to overcome. So don’t be afraid to ask for God’s help.

 

Ephesians 4:26 Teen devotion icon

The Trap of Anger

Posted on September 22, 2014

youth-advice-anger-teen-devotion-angerWe’ve all done it! We’ve gotten angry. There are a lot of reasons to get angry. You may have not gotten a good grade on your math test and you’re angry at yourself for not studying more. You could be angry because you see someone at your school getting bullied, and you wish that people treated others with more respect. Or perhaps you’ve gotten angry because someone auditioned for the school play and got the part you knew you deserved. Anger can come to us from many different sources.

Anger in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Its your response to anger that can make or break you in life. For example, if you got angry that you didn’t get a good grade on your math test. And let’s say you used that anger to motivate you to study harder for the next test. That response to anger would be good. You channeled your anger into something productive, like studying harder for a test.

Sometimes though, your response to anger can be bad. If you allow your anger to consume you you can do things you regret. The story of Cain in Genesis four is a good example of this. Cain got angry with his brother Abel and that anger drove him to ultimately kill Abel.

 

The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don’t, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it.”
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went to the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. – Genesis 4:6-8 (ERV)

 

Cain made a bad decision out of anger. He chose to kill his brother Abel. Now, we know that killing someone is wrong, and most of us aren’t tempted to kill someone, but what do you do when someone gets something you feel is unfair? Do you talk about them behind their back? Give them the silent treatment? Or maybe try to get even with them?

Doing these types of things will not help you in the long run. It might make you feel better in the moment, but trying to get even or not treating someone nice isn’t the right way to respond to anger. When you get angry, you have a choice to make. Will you sin when you get angry and do something you may later regret, or will you channel that anger into something positive in your life. Ephesians 4:26 says it like this:

“When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,” and don’t stay angry all day.  – Ephesians 4:26

When you get angry, choose to not get even or hurt someone else. Choose instead to channel your anger into something positive.

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