Anger. Bitterness. Unforgiveness.  These are common characteristics in hurting and broken believers.  They are bitter and broken because they have been hurt and their hurts refuse to heal because they are broken and bitter. Jesus had a great deal to say about these spiritual trip-wires in the lives of believers. So did the apostle Paul.

IN your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph. 4:26-27).

Anger is a common response to the hurts and injustices of life.  Even Jesus felt the flush of anger.  Anger in itself is not sin.  What we do with the anger is what matters. We often keep our anger and our offense alive because we believe that our anger forms an invisible wall that protects us from those who would wound us again.  It makes us feel powerful rather than weak and vulnerable.  It makes us feel that justice is being served because we believe our anger is somehow exacting payment from those who wronged us.  Satan fuels those beliefs.

The truth is that anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness create a breech in the wall of our spiritual defenses that allows the enemy access to us and our families. In the passage listed above, Paul warns that holding on to our anger gives the devil a foothold or a topos – a Greek word with several interesting meanings. It means a place, a territory, a dwelling, or a sanctuary.  The Hebrew equivalent originally referred to old Canaanite shrines where demons were worshipped. Paul is literally warning that we when we keep our anger alive, we give Satan a place of dominion in our lives, even a high place where, in some way, he is worshiped.

Because Jesus triumphed over Satan, the only authority Satan has in the life of a believer is the authority that believer grants him by withholding areas of his life from the Lordship of Jesus.  When Adam and Eve came into agreement with Satan in the Garden, they forfeited the dominion God had given them over the planet and that dominion was surrendered to the devil. In our own lives, we can forfeit areas of dominion when we begin to walk in agreement with Satan rather than with God about sin.

Jesus is very clear that forgiving those who have wronged us is not optional.  Other than blasphemy of the Spirit, unforgiveness is the only thing in our lives that puts a hold on God’s flow of forgiveness towards us.  That unforgiving place in our life gives Satan access to harass and torment us.  It gives him a legal right to take up residence in our house, so to speak.  I’m not talking about possession. Jesus owns the house. I’m talking about oppression.  The house belongs to Jesus but Satan can garner authority to lease a room in our house on the basis of our actions and create a base from which demons can harass us year after year.

Paul’s point is that nurturing and maintaining anger creates a kind of sanctuary where Satan is honored (even worshiped) by our agreement with him.  When we keep our anger alive, we agree with Satan that it is our right to sit in judgment on another.  It is our right to withhold forgiveness and in many ways make the object of our anger pay for what he/she  has done to us.  It is our right to reject God’s command to forgive because our hurts and our wounds should be exempt from God’s commands.

Again, Satan fuels those thoughts so that for months, years and even decades, Christians harbor unforgiveness towards those who wounded them in their past.  As they do, the foothold that was given to Satan becomes a stronghold and that stronghold limits the blessings and destiny of God in the life the one who is keeping bitterness alive.

Anger and unforgiveness do not protect us or validate us.  Bitterness and resentment poison our own heart and our own relationships.  The very thing that we believe will keep pain out, opens the door for the demonic to come in.  God’s command to forgive is not primarily to make life easy and consequence free for hurtful people. Forgiveness is primarily for your blessing and your protection. It keeps the root of bitterness out of your heart, shuts the door on the enemy, and keeps the soil of your relationships free of emotional poisons so that love can take root and flourish.

For your sake and the sake of those you love, put away anger.  Forgive and give no place to the devil.  Remember, biblical forgiveness is simply a decision to no longer require payment for the wrongs done to you because that is what Jesus did for us.  It is not letting hurtful people back into your life or trusting the untrustworthy.  It is simply releasing judgment and payment to God.

Let God be your protector, your vindicator, your power and your strength – not anger and unforgiveness.