Be Angry, Don’t Sin
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“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath
Ephesians 4:26 (WEB)
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This verse has always felt a little surprising.
Probably because, as a culture, wrath is one of the “7 Deadly Sins.”
Yet Paul clearly believed that you could be angry without sinning.
Obviously it’s easy to let our emotions get the best of us and allow anger to lead us into sin. So we need to be careful about that.
But, yeah, we can be angry without sinning.
Jesus was certainly angry at the Pharisees.
He even overturned the temple when they desecrated it with their greedy actions.
I might be tempted to think the things I imagine Jesus did when overthrowing the temple “market” were sinful.
But, of course, that cannot be true.
Jesus has to be sinless.
Thus we have a prime example of a way to be angry -- indeed, very angry -- yet without sin.
The key there, I think, is His zeal for God’s people and God’s honor.
Something else to be said from what Paul writes here:
Don’t let anger fester and turn into bitterness.
That’s like drinking poison while hoping the other person gets sick!
Sure, you can take the day to be angry, but any more than that and you simply need to let it go.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2026 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.