"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Eph. 4:26 KJV).

Have you ever said something in anger that you wish you simply had not said? After you thought about it you said, "That was dumb. I shouldn't have said that."

Well, anger will cause your love "clothes" to be soiled. Acting in anger is like putting on grimy garments. But since the love of God has been placed on the inside of you, you can avoid anger. Instead of being driven by anger, you can let love take over the driver's seat and kick out the devil and the anger he brought with him.

What happens when anger shows up? It comes to drive you to sin. A flash of anger may come your way, but don't let it control you, and definitely don't let it drive you to sin. Ephesians 4:26 says, "Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

Now he's not saying that you can be angry until sundown. The scripture is saying that you cannot allow anger to dwell in your heart for an extended length of time. Recognize anger and put it away from you quickly, lest you say something or do something that you will regret.

Do away with anger by operating in the love of God. Let love drive your words and actions. Consequently, there will be peace and quietness in that situation.

You can control anger. Someone may say, "I've always had a short fuse. That's just my personality." But your personality is found in the Word of God. And when you yield to the love of God on the inside of you, a godly personality comes forth. Love takes over and anger cannot control you…you control it.

Let love drive anger out by forgiving and showing mercy according to Colossians 3:13 (AMP): "Be gentle, and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive]."

When you yield to the love of God that is shed abroad in your heart, you can get along with anybody. The moment someone comes against you, love comes from your heart and out of your mouth. It erases that unpleasant feeling of anger and allows God to bring peace.

Copyright © Keith Butler Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.