don't let the sun go down...

As I begin this writing today I have been looking at a blank page for some time. I have nothing to give  this morning because of the many thoughts that are running through my mind about circumstances surrounding me. I will though trust in God for my circumstances and I will trust in Him and the truth of His word to speak today.

In Ephesians 4 Paul is giving the church at Ephesus instruction about Christian living. This passage is from my daily reading today in the One Year Bible.

^{Ephesians 4: 25} Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.²⁹ 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. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Verses 26 and 27 are what stood out to me this morning. " In your anger do not sin". From that statement we can conclude that anger itself is not sin. Just as we need to seperate temptation and sin, we need to seperate anger and the sinful responses we may have to anger. Probably the most critical aspect of this is to really ackowledge why we are angry. Do we feel that we are the victim of the injustice, the one who has been wronged or is our anger at an injustice or affront to God. I don't think I need to tell you which is righteous anger. Let's look at Jesus, our example of how to walk in this flesh.

Matthew 21:12And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN."…  

…Luke 23:33When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." ... 

We see in the first account Jesus anger was due to an offense against God. In the context of those verses The next thing Jesus does is begins to heal lame and sick people who are brought to Him. His anger has no lasting root of bitterness, there is no personal offense taken or held. We see then in the second account, Jesus response to the most severe personal attack. " Father forgive them" 

The next part of the Ephesians text says, don't let the sun go down on your anger and don't give the devil a foothold. Anger held gives the devil a foothold. That is when the roots of bitterness, hurt and judgment begin to enter and take hold. In order to not let the sun go down on our anger, we must be willing to wipe the slate clean every night. We need to understand that the primary two parties involved in us forgiving someone for something they have done to us, are ourselves and God, not ourselves and the other person. Far too often we confuse our desire to let the other person know what they did wrong with our forgiving them. Our forgiveness is between us and God. True forgiveness does not require us to be justified by hearing their apology.

The rules are different when we are the offending party. We are instructed to go and make it right. Matthew 5: 23"Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.…  

Just one word on asking forgiveness or making right. There are no sorry buts in the kingdom of God, nor should there be any in the family of Christ. So if you are saying you are sorry to someone take the word but out of your conversation. To say I am sorry, but you..., is really just you telling them what they did wrong. If you are sorry say you are sorry. If you still need to talk about the offense, spend a little more time with God in forgiveness before you go to the other person.

Verse 31 of the Ephesians text says " get rid of ALL bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander along with EVERY form of malice. All and every leave us very little room for debate. These things must go and they must go for the sake of our own well being. Verse 31 be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.

Heavenly Father, precious Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, make this real in my life today I pray. I choose to forgive, Heavenly Father, just as in Christ you forgave every sin past present and future. I choose to forgive those who have hurt me in the past. I choose to forgive those whose actions and words are hurting me right now and I choose now to forgive those who will hurt me in the times ahead. Thank you for your grace and love that makes this possible. Holy Spirit I trust you to guide me in conviction and revelation when I need to walk in this choice.