One Little Letter

I've been noticing more and more around me there are angry people. Traffic makes people mad. Waiting in line makes them mad. And forbid it, Lord, that we try to talk to each other about politics or religion. It seems I deal more with my own anger than I remember doing before. We are all on edge, and have increasingly short fuses. So, what's a Christian to do?
Well, this Christian went to the concordance and looked up scripture about anger. Ephesians 4:26 says "don’t sin by letting anger control you.” So, it seems to me, it matters more what we DO with our anger than the fact that we get angry. Psalm 4:4 says, "Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent." So, the Bible also recommends a cooling off period. The KJV of Psalm 4:4 reads "Be angry, but sin not." In other words, God knows that we get angry. He gets angry, too. We are created in God's image, and God gave us the emotion anger. So it's okay to be angry - it's a God given emotion. It serves us well at times. It keeps us from being attacked, gives us energy in times of distress, and helps us react when we've been wronged. So anger in and of itself is not a sin.
The sin part comes when we let the anger consume us, change our essential character, and drive us to do things we know are wrong. When we get angry, it's seldom half-hearted. We don't get a little angry - we're in all the way. It arouses our passion. It's that passion that can help us move from angry to creative to angel. That's right, I said angel.
An angel is literally a messenger from God. We can change our world one person at a time by our attitudes and actions. Proverbs 15:1 says, "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare." How we react can change the whole situation. We can choose our words carefully when we speak to the one who angered us, and give a "gentle answer" instead of one born of anger and resentment. Your words can actually bless the other! Instead of cursing at the car that cut you off in traffic, laugh and say "Go with God." Because, seriously, anyone who drives like that needs our prayers. I've made this a practice in my life. Once, it was when I had a church van full of youth. They laughed at me, but I planted a seed. I became God's messenger, and that's the definition of an angel.
Ephesians 26 says, “don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil." Too often, instead of turning our anger into to a blessing, we hold onto it and turn it into a grudge. THAT'S when it turns from anger to sin. "Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires." (James 1:20) We cannot hold onto anger because it eats us up inside. And, worse still, it blocks us from God. Grudges keep us in the problem instead of moving us to the solution. We need to remember just one simple pneumonic device: turn your anger into an angel. What a difference one little letter can make in our lives!
In 1 Timothy 2:8, Paul is teaching Timothy about the best way to help the church through growing pains. He says, "In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy." That is why we have confession as part of our worship, so we CAN be free from anger and controversy. We MUST lay it down before God in order to have worship as God intends.
Next time I get angry, I'm going to picture an angel. Maybe it will help me to bless rather than curse, love rather than hate, and carry God's message of love to the world.