God's Strategy for a Short Fuse

"19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires."   James 1:19-20.  NLT

We are all susceptible to losing our tempers at times, or generally throwing a wobbly. We wouldn't be human if we didn't. However, if it goes too far it offends the Holy Spirit, so we need to examine ourselves and make some adjustments.

Losing one's temper can render someone out of control at times. We say things we don't mean and then regret them when we've cooled down. The trouble is, we can't take the words back that we've spoken and they may have either, damaged someone quite badly, or blown our Christian witness to pieces and then we end up apologising about fifty times to try and make amends. It is far better if we can analyse our behaviour and attitudes before things get that far.

There are certain characteristics that trigger our tempers, or let people know that we're in a bad mood. Let's look at these:

Aggression
We can often walk around in this manner showing our aggression. It can show through our  body language - how we present ourselves to other people; how we look at people and how they view our faces when we act this way. Some people may have been brought up in a rough area, where they had to stand up for themselves at an early age. They may have been bullied at school and since made a vow that never again will this happen. Also ex servicemen may act this way if they feel threatened in any particular way. 

Retaliation
Some of us, may feel the need to retaliate when someone has hurt us in any way. Instead of turning the other cheek, retaliating is one of the key issues that leads to mayhem. Most marital rows could be diffused very quickly, if the partner on the receiving end didn't retaliate. This is difficult, I know, but is a wonderful way to quickly end arguments. It's difficult for a person to argue when the other person isn't arguing back.

Bad-mouthing
This speaks for itself. Criticising, slagging things or people off or generally being 'gobby', leads to chaos. Really, we need to be careful what comes out of our mouths. It may take some time to correct this but, eventually it is possible to take control of the tongue and get our hearts right. Think, 'Does my words build people up or fire bullets at them?' Ephesians 4:29 has the answer: 'Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. ' Learn to choose the right things to say; get your heart right with God and be in control.

Threatening
We can be threatening towards people and situations. Basically, if we chose to remain quiet instead of blowing a gasket, things would very quickly quiet down. However, if we don't stay quiet, all of the other things above, kick in and we have a war on our hands.

How do you fit in with the above mentioned? Are you squeaky clean or are you cringing with shame. If you belong to the latter, of which I am a founder member, don't beat yourself up. We have a Saviour who knows all about this, and let's face it, He had His work cut out trying to teach Peter a better way at first. Jesus knows each one of us very, very well. He is wanting to help us but we have to make the first move. 

Firstly, determine in your heart that there will be no more Mr or Mrs Nasty Guy.
Secondly speak to God about your short comings - He knows anyway, but wants us to confess.
Thirdly pray about how you handle things.
Finally work on these areas until you have overcome them.

Father, bless each one of us as we deal with these matters. Help us to get things right.
In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com