In Your Anger Do Not Sin

I have always struggled with the following verse. Ephesians 4: 26, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." I do not get angry easily or often but when I do, I am probably not going to be over it by sunset!

You hear that verse a lot but I don't hear the first part as much. "In your anger do not sin." My first thought is I usually don't say anything ugly or do anything because I don't want to have to regret it. I know my conscious and it would eat me up! But holding on to that anger is a sin. Ouch! I have never thought about Psalm 4:4, "Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent." God knows that anger is a real emotion and it has to be processed but He does not want us to let it be destructive by burying it. We are to process it through and hold on to what is good.

Instead of letting it get that far I should just turn around and do something kind for that person. Isn't that the best spiritual warfare? I guarantee you if I saw Jesus physically standing there, watching, that is what I would do. God expects that no matter how much someone puts us down or pushes us down. God does not allow us to carry anger and bitterness! We have to make the decision to let God have that issue and trust Him to take care of it. We can choose to complicate things or we can choose to let it go and trust God which will give us peace.