Family Communication
In Your Anger – Part 1

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:25-32

Key Verse: Ephesians 4:26

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry

Our passage of scripture for today and the next couple of days contains powerful guidance for anyone who truly wants to be better a communicator. I hope we all get better at communicating effectively in our family life.

Let’s skip to Ephesians 4:26 and deal with the apostle’s admonishment: “In your anger do not sin.” Whenever we are speaking to a family member, it is easy to have a conversation turn into a disagreement. Most of us know the rising feeling we get when our anger is starting to boil up. We need not feel guilty that the emotion of anger flares up in our lives; we are all human. However, the Bible warns us that in our anger sin easily sneaks into the conversations. Anger lowers our antenna to receive the Spirit’s guidance. Our flesh wants to take over and deal with the situation. The best thing that we can do when we sense anger is slow our responses. The Apostle James gives this advice: “Be quick to listen, but slow to speak” (James 1:19). In fact, I often advise people to take a “time out” from the discussion that moment anger starts to take over.

We are not sinning simply because we feel anger. We are in a condition that makes it easy to start sinning when we are angry. Most of the sin will come from words spoken; be careful!

Father, I want my home to be a place of peace. Please help me control my emotions and be careful with my words to those I love. In Jesus’ name, amen.