Ephesians 4:26

"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath. ~Ephesians 4:26

The preceding verses talk about putting away our sinful ways, and putting on the new man, living in holiness. The notes in my Bible add, "from uncontrolled anger to self-control." (New Geneva Study Bible).

My husband and I were reminded of this Scripture text during our marriage counseling about sixteen years ago. Although it's not always been heeded, most of the time it has. And with each passing year, it does seem to get easier. However, applying this text to my children has been something quite different, especially when they are wound up at bedtime. I have three sons, whose ages are 13, 12, and 9. It gets worse. They share the same room. (Picture the Brady bunch boys' room).

It seems like every night my voice raises several decibals as I try to get them to settle down and to go to sleep. Just the other night, I happened to read this verse in Ephesians to them before bedtime and was struck by how much I didn't follow it. I typically leave them, angry, to fall asleep. I'm working on this now, to leave with "I love you" no matter how many times I have to return and address any misbehavior. I am also very thankful the Lord blessed me with a daughter (who's 10) who takes after her mother.