Ed, my neighbour next door, had a slight accident recently. It had to do with a stubborn grain chute door. All Ed wanted to do was get a grain sample, but first the door wouldn't come open and then it wouldn't close. "My temper got the best of me," Ed admits. It seems in pure frustration he kicked the door and hurt his toe. It troubled him enough that he had to have it x-rayed to see if it was broken. Hobbling around with a sore foot has been frustrating for Ed. He claims he is turning over a new leaf. No more acting in anger for him.
Seems to me Ed is taking on a tough resolve. I have found controlling my anger is as easy to do as controlling my tongue. Controlling my tongue is a tough one for me. Perhaps I'm not alone. The Bible says, "No man can tame the tongue. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness."
My tongue and my anger are both tough for me to control. Anger can build up or just rise up and it often leads me into more trouble than I want. I have always acted as if getting angry was going to help in a situation. For me, getting angry is a natural and common response to frustration, irritation, difficulty, disagreement and so on and so forth. I am only now beginning to see that being angry is not going to fix or change anything. Expressing my anger may seem to make me feel better, but more often than not,. it only makes me feel worse.
God's anger is pictured in the Bible as an unquenchable fire which consumes and destroys. The Bible also refers to God as restraining his anger as we should restrain ours. The Bible asserts, "A man's anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty." The Bible acknowledges we will get angry, but that we should get over it quickly or the same day. Hanging onto our anger can lead us down the dead-end roads of bitterness and revenge.
Ed has resolved he will not act in anger again. As long as his foot is sore, I think he may be successful. I don't know how long Ed can go without acting in anger. I only know for myself my strength is small indeed when it comes to being in total control of my tongue or my anger. I place my faith in Jesus, for there I find the power to blot out the sin of my uncontrolled anger and my poisonous tongue. Jesus, who can "change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone," can move me further along toward better anger management and keep in check my biting tongue. In heaven, I will at last have my anger and tongue in perfect and total control.
