📣 Ephesians 4:26-27 | The World is Watching

👐 support our work // 📧 subscribe

📧 In today’s email…

• 📖 A review of what we’ve learned this week

• 📣 A challenge to respond well

• 💪 A prayer to be strong in the face of anger

 🧠 Memorize

_{see if you know what words go in the blanks}

Be _____ ___ __ ___ ___; __ not ___ ___ ___ __ ____ __ your _____, and give __ ___________ __ ___ _____.

Ephesians 4:26-27

Let’s review the ground we covered this week 🤔 

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians focuses on unity within the body of Christ and calls believers to live according to their new identity in Christ.

Ephesians 4:26-27 highlights how emotions, particularly anger, must be handled carefully to preserve unity and avoid sin.

On Monday, we covered how Ephesians was written by Paul during his imprisonment (around 60-62 AD) to address the church’s need for spiritual maturity and unity.

On Tuesday, we dug into the outline of chapter 4.

Paul shares both theological reflection as well as practical Christian living (putting on the “new self”).

Ephesians 4:25-32 outlines behaviors that preserve unity — speaking truth, avoiding destructive speech, practicing kindness, and forgiving as Christ forgave.

On Wednesday, we talked about how there are 2 very different types of anger and broke down each phrase in our memory verse:

Be angry and do not sin

The two types of anger:

1. Fleeting frustration is caused by something that displeases me

2. Righteous indignation is caused by something that displeases God

do not let the sun go down on your anger

The sun goes down every day. Reconciliation must be a daily task for us as Christ followers!

and give no opportunity to the devil.

Unresolved anger becomes a door that the devil can walk through to sow division. Paul urges us to close that door — every day.

On Thursday, we saw how Ephesians 4:26-27 is a direct reference to David’s words in Psalm 4:4.

Then, we looked at how Jesus embodied this verse perfectly. He flipped tables in the temple, quoting Scripture:

And he spoke words of reconciliation, even while dying on the cross:

By following Paul’s instructions and Christ's example, we can be agents of restoration and reconciliation in a world desperately in need of reconciliation to God.

Apply and Respond: The World is Watching 👁️

One of the main ways the world judges Christians is by how we handle conflict, especially amongst ourselves.

Challenge 📣 

This weekend, put our memory verse into practice.

Whether it’s conflict with your kids, spouse, friends or coworkers, take a step to address it directly with love and truth — before the sun goes down.

Pray 🙏 

Heavenly Father,

Help me be slow to anger and quick to forgive, reflecting Your love in every situation. When conflict arises, guide me to seek peace and reconciliation.

Protect my heart from bitterness and use me to build unity within Your church. May my words and actions lead others to Your truth and reflect Christ’s mercy.

In Jesus' name, Amen 🙏 

Resources to help you dig deeper 📚️ 

In case you missed it, here are a few resources to help you dig deeper into this week’s passage:

• 🎙️ Sermon: The Healing of Anger by Tim Keller (link)

• 📚️ Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters by N.T. Wright (link)

• 📚️ Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better by Brant Hansen (link)

• 🎙️ Christian historian Wesley Huff defends the reliability of the Bible on the world’s largest podcast (link)

• 🎥 The Bible Project’s Summary of Ephesians (link)

• 💻️ Got Questions: What does it mean to not let the sun go down on your anger? (link)

• 🎵 Ephesians 4:25-27 by Verses (Spotify | Apple Music)

Answer key ✅ 

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Ephesians 4:26-27