When we get mad about things and we dwell on them, we are opening the door for the devil to come in and cause trouble. We are allowing those negative feelings and emotions to take root and affect us on many different levels.
First, anger and pent up feelings tend to flow over into the rest of our day. We may be frustrated and short with other people. Behavior like this hurts our witness and the devil likes that.
Secondly, unresolved hurt causes stress and tension. This could result in health problems such as high-blood pressure, weight loss, weight gain (emotional eating), headaches, body aches, fatigue etc. These health problems could result in decreased energy and ability to serve God. And the devil likes that.
Thirdly, when we let anger build up and take root inside of us instead of openly and honestly dealing with it, relationships can be destroyed. For example, if you are angry with your husband- don't avoid it, and don't avoid him. Talk it out. If you don't, it will fester and grow and your marriage will become vulnerable. And the devil likes this.
Finally, as a grief counselor, I can not tell you how many people I have counseled who have lost someone suddenly and regretted their last conversations. They "let the sun go down on [their] anger" and a car accident....heart attack....or suicide resulted in unresolved conflict that they have to live with every day. And guess what? The devil likes that too.
I don't know about you, but I don't want the devil to like ANYTHING that I do! So it's important that we deal with our anger constructively. Get things out in the open, talk, take responsibility for our part in whatever the problem is, try to explain our side and work through it. In doing so, we are SHUTTING THAT DOOR and keeping the devil from getting that foothold.
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