One weapon the devil employs to achieve his destructive aims is anger. Today’s world is getting so violent that it suffices to say more than half of the world’s population is on the side of bad temperance. For one reason or the other we can’t really explain too, we often find ourselves doing demeaning things within the brief moment of anger. Anger, which is man’s natural expression of a feeling of displeasure, can sometimes be so strong that it turns wild. Among many Christians, this wild feeling is bluntly taken as sin. Some others have argued it really isn’t a bad idea to get angry. As a result of this much debate between doctrines, many find it difficult to draw a line between anger being a sin or not. But what does the Bible teach us on this matter? The most likely verse that comes to mind on this is Ephesians 4:26-27. Perhaps it is also the verse that has suffered the most mutilation when it comes to anger. Many have interpreted it as they deemed fit. But if all scripture is given for correction and reproof, we must be willing to go by what it says even if it contradicts the doctrines we hold in mind at the moment. Let us carefully consider some Bible verses; they are some translations of Ephesians 4:26-27. “And 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” (NLT) “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil” (KJV) “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry- but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (MSG) Clearly, these verses affirm that getting angry at all isn’t a sin. Man is wired to express his feelings at one time or the other, and that includes the feelings of displeasure which births anger. More often, it is better to express your feeling in the form of anger than to bottle it up or feign being pleased while you burn desperately within. Precisely, bottling up your feelings of displeasure is a sin on its own (Matthew 18:15). Conversely, the scripture also warns of the possibility of our manner of expressing feelings becoming a sin. Yes, there are times anger can become a sin. How then can we discern when our anger is tending towards sin? From the Bible verses quoted above, there are three indicators that signal when our feeling is becoming a sinful one: 1. When anger begins to control you. God has restored to the redeemed man dominion over all things including his feelings! But what the devil did at the beginning, and he’s still doing is to make sure that man does not exercise this dominion. He constantly buffets us with temptations so we can fall into sin and lose our dominion as a result. So, when you see the present feeling of displeasure is beginning to have the better side of you, watch it! When you begin to think weird or have a great urge to spill out words like a volcano, watch it! The devil is seeking to gain control of your life through anger; do not allow him. Do not let him steal again the dominion Jesus Christ bought back for you, as he did to our parents in the Garden of Eden. The Psalmist offers a help in Psalm 119:133, so anger wouldn’t have dominion over you. Go into the Word; remind yourself how special God regards you- as king or queen. And you know it is not for kings and lawmakers to go angry. Take your stand by confessing the Word, and you will see how your dominion is retained. 2. When anger begins to fuel revenge. The natural man believes in the law of “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”. But as the redeemed of the Lord, this should no longer be so. Anger has the high potential of driving us into revenge, but we must not give it any room, else it becomes sin. Christ has come to revise this natural law; and the supernatural law now is that of living peaceably with all men (Matthew 5:38-48). You do not have to repay the evil done to you. That is what anger fuels, and thus becomes a sin. The only ‘being’ permitted to get angry to the point of revenge is the Supreme being- God (Romans 12:19, NIV)... Do not let your wrath take the place of God’s wrath; else you become a rebel against Him. 3. When you stay angry. Being angry and staying angry are two different things. While you may get angry, holding on to it makes it a sin and a foothold for the enemy in your life. Why will you have to keep nursing the displeasure another man brought you? You are killing yourself physically and spiritually that way! When you hold on to anger, the devil has sufficient time to breathe on it; demons breed successfully within it, and you are on your way to being grouped among the wicked. Like you most likely have heard: “let go and let God”. This is the only way to keep the devil out of your life. God Bless!