Read: Ephesians 4:25—5:2
Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Ephesians 4:26b
Paul gives plenty of relational advice in this passage of scripture, and there is at least one note of instruction that is worth living each and every day of our lives. Don’t go to sleep angry. Anger has a way of festering when the world goes dark, and we are left tossing and turning through the night, getting ever more worked up about contentious relationships and difficult encounters. What a blessing it would be to marriages if couples would commit to staying awake and working through the issues that plague them rather than going to bed on edge with one another. How much more soundly we would sleep if we made up with those with whom we are at odds! As the sun sets, we might want to remember Paul’s admonition and make tracks to people who have angered us and who we have angered. Make amends, make reparations—make love—before you choose to end the day angry.
What do you do when you are angry?
Lord God, sometimes I think it would be better to end the day not giving up any ground in the arguments and disagreements I find myself embroiled in. Somehow I believe going to bed angry is preferable to making amends and sacrificing my positions. However, when the sun sets and my rage is still hot . . . I find I am lost already. Help me to swallow my pride—or better yet, allow my heart to enlarge so that empathy and not anger is the way I end my days. In Your name, I pray. AMEN.