BIBLE READING: EPHESIANS 4:25 - 5:2
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body.  “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. 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.

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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
REFLECTION
We’re in that section of Ephesians where Paul is given instructions for Christian living. He’s basically asking what it looks like in a practical way to be a follower of Jesus. Today I’m just going to look at Ephesians 4:26-27, where Paul addresses the issue of anger and how we might deal with anger in a Christian way.

It’s worth me starting by reminding us that all of what Paul says about instructions for living and all of what Paul gives us about how we might live a Christina life is based on us living out an identity as people who’ve received a calling to follow Jesus. In fact, he says himself in Ephesians 5:1 and 2 this: we’re to follow God’s example as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love. So all that I’m about to say about anger is within the context of you and I living out our identity as dearly loved children.

Ephesians 4:26 says this: ‘In your anger do not sin’. The first thing Paul says to us about anger is this: don’t let it cause us to sin. Now we’ve all experienced anger and anger is such a powerful emotion. Sometimes when we feel angry we just want to do something. We want to send a text message to that person; we want to tell it to their face; we want to beep our horn; we want to swear at the referee. What Paul says is this: when you’re angry try to stop. Just try to stop. Try not to act from that place but try to take a moment to pause. Often, if we give ourselves a few moments, or if we give ourselves a bit of time to think about it, we don’t want to do that thing anymore. So the first thing Paul says practically is this: as dearly loved children, when you’re angry, don’t sin.

The second thing he says is this: Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Very practically, that can be in a family, in a workplace, with friends. Don’t get to the end of the day if you’re angry with someone without dealing with it because it can fester and become a bigger issue. But I think he’s also talking about that tendency we have sometimes to right someone, or something, or a relationship off because we’re angry. It goes a bit like this: they do something to us and then we find ourselves saying things like: “I’m done with that person. They’ll never change. They’ll never be different and I’m finished. It will never be different and I’m finished with it.” I think Paul says look, don’t allow anger to be the thing that makes you give up on a situation or a person or a workplace or whatever it is. Don’t let anger be the thing that causes that to happen. Don’t let the sun set on anger in that way.

The third thing Paul says is: don’t let the enemy have a foothold in your life. Because what anger wants to do is move us away from the love of God into a different thing. It tries to grip our hearts so that we have a bit of our lives that’s not surrend