Managing Your Moods – Temper, Temper – Wk 3

Temper, Temper

Verse: "Better to Dwell in the Wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman." Proverbs 21:19

Clearing the Cobwebs:

What causes you to lose your temper? The big things? Or the little things?

For me…it is the little things that add up and become a BIG thing that causes me to lose my temper. I can saw that over the past 12 years I have made great progress in not losing my temper as easily. The greatest strides have been in the past 3 years as I'm learning more about Jesus and his desire for me and my life.

 

In the Bible there are many people that said words that they would regret in the heat of anger. Moses threw the tablets out of his hands after learning of the people worshiping the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:19). The man in Numbers 22:27 that beat his donkey with a stick while she was trying to avoid the angel in the street. David's brother called him conceited and said that he had a wicked heart in 1Samuel 17:28. David was called a son of a perverse and rebellious woman (1Samuel 20:30). David said that he deserved to die (2 Samuel 12:5). King Xerxes threw a temper tantrum when he didn't get his way (Esther 1:12). Jonah is angry enough to die (Jonah 4:9).

 

An angry man or woman stirs up dissension, a hot-tempered one commits many sins (Proverbs 29:22). A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays foolishness (Proverbs 14:29). These two passages tell us that people who can not control their tempers (angry people) are foolish and commit many sins in their anger. Solomon calls a person who is easily angered a fool (Ecclesiastes 7:9). "Your life is in the hands of any fool who can make you lose your temper."

 

Psalm 37:8, Ephesians 4:31, Colossians 3:8 all say that we should refrain or rid ourselves from anger. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't ever be angry. It is only a sin if you express your anger inappropriately. Psalm 4:4 "In your anger do not sin. When you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent. Selah"

 

Nehemiah 9:17 says that one of God's character traits is being "slow to anger". Proverbs 16:32 says "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."

PATIENCE is the key.

Anger is not difficult to spot but it can be very difficult to let go of. Pray for God's mercy and help as you deal with the anger harbored in your heart. Ask the Lord to make you more like HIM – slow to anger and full of mercy.

 

TRINKET to TREASURE

Your little gift this week is a firecracker. Too often we'll use any excuse to light the flame on a short fuse. Even the littlest things set us off, and we explode before we even give a thought to what we're doing. Let this little firecracker remind you to watch your temper, because it can be a dangerous, little thing. When we do and say things in the heat of the moment, we can inflect a lot of damage.

 

Women of Faith, Managing Your Moods, Temper Temper