It may come as a surprise to you, but I used to struggle with controlling my anger. You know the verse in James that says: be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry? Well, that wasn't me. In fact, when someone cut me off in traffic I would have some very choice words for them. Or when someone failed to hold the door for me as we were entering a place of business I would mumble some filth under my breath. Often times my wife would get the worst of it. Isn't it strange that those we love the most we can often hurt the deepest?
God has really been working on me in this area. Through the power of his Spirit he has been building into me a heart of flesh. A heart that sees others from His perspective. I desire to see people as God see them. This little nugget and change of perspective has had a profound impact on my life. Let me give you an example. One of the things that most infuriated me was when I was driving to work, I would be driving anywhere between 55-60 miles per hour, and someone would pass me. For some reason this used to just tick me off. Well, God reminded me of a time when my family was camping at Yankee Springs and my brother was stung multiple times after our dog dug up a bee's nest. My brother began to swell and his airway began to close so we rushed into the van and drove to Hastings. The ride to Hastings was literally a blur as my dad passed people on the left and on the right. Ok, maybe that is a little exaggeration but it seemed like it at the time. I'm sure people were not happy with my dad's erratic driving but my brother's life was in jeopardy. The people we passed didn't know the extent of our circumstances.
When people pass me, when they are rude to me, when they mess up my food order...
I have no room to judge.
I don't know their circumstances.
I don't know what diagnoses they just received from the doctor. I don't know the bad news they just received on the phone. I don't know about the spouse who just walked out on them. I don't know...
I do know that it is not my job to judge...it is my job to love.
Maybe this will help you because it has certainly helped me. Whenever someone does something to me and I feel that little ball of anger start to rise up, I take a minute and pray for that person. I pray blessings for them instead of speaking curses against them. Hopefully this will begin to help you see people from God's perspective and will help you take steps towards being a person of peace. A person after God's own heart!
Grace and Peace,
Andrew
God has really been working on me in this area. Through the power of his Spirit he has been building into me a heart of flesh. A heart that sees others from His perspective. I desire to see people as God see them. This little nugget and change of perspective has had a profound impact on my life. Let me give you an example. One of the things that most infuriated me was when I was driving to work, I would be driving anywhere between 55-60 miles per hour, and someone would pass me. For some reason this used to just tick me off. Well, God reminded me of a time when my family was camping at Yankee Springs and my brother was stung multiple times after our dog dug up a bee's nest. My brother began to swell and his airway began to close so we rushed into the van and drove to Hastings. The ride to Hastings was literally a blur as my dad passed people on the left and on the right. Ok, maybe that is a little exaggeration but it seemed like it at the time. I'm sure people were not happy with my dad's erratic driving but my brother's life was in jeopardy. The people we passed didn't know the extent of our circumstances.
When people pass me, when they are rude to me, when they mess up my food order...
I have no room to judge.
I don't know their circumstances.
I don't know what diagnoses they just received from the doctor. I don't know the bad news they just received on the phone. I don't know about the spouse who just walked out on them. I don't know...
I do know that it is not my job to judge...it is my job to love.
Maybe this will help you because it has certainly helped me. Whenever someone does something to me and I feel that little ball of anger start to rise up, I take a minute and pray for that person. I pray blessings for them instead of speaking curses against them. Hopefully this will begin to help you see people from God's perspective and will help you take steps towards being a person of peace. A person after God's own heart!
Grace and Peace,
Andrew
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