Day 4 – Anger

“A [shortsighted] fool always loses his temper and displays his anger, but a wise man [uses self-control and] holds it back.” Proverbs 29:11

Oh, the instant feeling of justification when we lose control and say whatever we want, just to have to look back in retrospect and see that that instant reaction has brought forth nothing of the result we thought it should have… Anger is a valid emotion, but it is not a valid reason for reaction, as righteous anger – the anger of the Lord – is, because there are always two sides to a story, and although we may seem innocent in it all, the fact that we reacted without having all the knowledge and detail and our anger is based on what we perceived, makes us guilty as well. So are we not to get angry? Of course not, we are human after all, but we are not to sin when we do get angry and to be able to do this, we turn to the Holy Spirit with His gift of self-control and we wait just that second – it takes only that moment of biting back the words on the tip of our tongue, and He will bring clarity and the relief when we realise what trouble we have been saved from for not using our tongues unwisely is far greater than the momentary justification felt in a moment of anger.

Prayer: Lord, You are a God who is slow to anger and this is our example to follow. Now knowing that the reason for Your command to be slow to anger has been to protect us all along, has given us new insight and understanding and suddenly our world is not so controlled by emotions anymore, but Wisdom is busy taking its rightful place – what a joy, what a breakthrough! Thank You, Lord! In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Written by Anna-Mart Nel for www.womenoftheword.co.za