Day 19

Ephesians 4:²⁶ “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.

Anger, whether righteous or unrighteous, can lead to sin.

Paul tells us as Christ-followers that we are new creatures in Christ...the old man is dead and we have been made alive in Christ.  The problem is that while we are now new creations we are still living in this garment of flesh that is prone to sinning.  Sometimes we allow the flesh to dictate our actions instead of letting our new nature dictate our actions.  We let old habits go unchecked instead of developing new habits in keeping with our new life.  One such habit is the tendency to hold unforgiveness or a grudge.  Paul tells us that this is allowing the garment to dictate the action instead of us dictating what we should do.  A child of God, who has experienced the love and grace of God, will not harbor unforgiveness but will choose to forgive and not give the devil a foothold in our lives.  He is never satisfied with a foothold - he wants total body domination.  When we get angry and stay angry, hold grudges or harbor unforgiveness we end up taking the dead man out of the grave and performing CPR on him, trying desperately to revive him.  Sure we are not perfect as long as we live in this mortal body but we must crucify (kill off) the old habits and allow God to form His thoughts and character fully in us.

Is there someone that you have unresolved conflict with that is causing you to walk in sin?  Why not do something about it today?