Satan loves anger. Ephesians 4:26-27 warns against giving Satan an opportunity in our hearts in the area of anger. This is sinful anger that we refuse to confront. Satan loves it when we get angry and hold onto our anger beyond the day. He loves when we will not humble ourselves and admit our sin. A heart of anger is like a field prepared for sowing seeds of bitterness, wrath, malice, violence, discord, division, ungratefulness, and more. Anger is in opposition to God and is in accord with Satan!
Satan will feed our heart lies to encourage us to hang onto our anger. Lies like "I was wronged!" "I am justified in my anger." "I will hold out until the other person admits their wrong." "It is not fair." "I am in the right." He will feed us any line that will keep us in our anger for another moment. He does not want us to humble ourselves before God, confess our sin, and repent.
Some of the most powerful lies Satan feeds us are lies about God. It is interesting in our anger how it turns from those around us to the One who is over us. He will suggest that God is not good. He will tell us that we are missing out on something better and that God is keeping it from us. He will do what He can to cause us to doubt God's faithfulness, goodness, and His work on our behalf.
Ed Welch states the effects of theses lies well. "When we believe Satan's lies, it's easy to justify our anger. Surrounded by his deceptions, we lose our ability to distinguish between good and evil. Our moral eyesight gradually goes dim." This is in part why we need to remember that angry people are blind to their anger and the damage that it does to them and those around them.
A deep look at anger reveals that our allegiance is with Satan. With anger there is no neutral ground. We have chosen our side and it is against God! Welch goes on to state, "What started as something that seemed to have very little to do with God now seems to have everything to do with Him." Anger is a battle between God and Satan. Who will we side with?