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Read: Ephesians 4:26-27
Listen: Ephesians 4

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26b-27

Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians carries urgency: resolve anger quickly. He’s not commanding them to argue until midnight, but to do everything possible to settle today’s conflicts today. When the believers nurse their anger and let it fester, small disagreements grow into massive resentments. What should have been a minor conflict becomes an argument about everything. Prior unresolved tensions get dragged into present disputes. Paul warns that lingering anger opens a door, giving the devil a foothold in the Ephesians’ relationships and church community. Satan camps out in places of unresolved conflict, planting seeds of bitterness that spread through families and churches like weeds choking a garden.

Healthy relationships don’t have zero conflict. The difference between thriving marriages, friendships and family relationships and struggling ones isn’t the absence of arguments, but how fast they move toward reconciliation. When we let anger simmer, we’re not protecting ourselves or teaching someone a lesson; we’re allowing wounds to become infected. Passive-aggressive silence can do as much damage as explosive rage. Movement toward peace matters more than winning the argument. Sometimes this means asking a simple question: “Do we have unresolved conflict?” Even years later, this question can unlock healing. When reactions feel disproportionate to the offense, unresolved anger from the past is likely fueling the present fire.

TODAY: Is there someone you need to ask, “Do we have unresolved conflict?” Move toward that person today. Send a text, make a call or schedule a conversation. For more on resolving conflict, listen to this week’s Beyond the Weekend Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube HERE.