WOW: Anger, Schmanger.

Yesterday for whatever reason I became emotional, moody and at times quickly annoyed and angered at petty things.  We all have those days where every little thing affects you, your thoughts and/or your actions.  Being a girl filled with estrogen doesn't help this case and for this week's Word of Wisdom Wednesday, I decided to see what the scripture suggests us to do to avoid giving into these emotional funks.

James 1:19-20

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 

If only controlling our emotions was that simple!  We are all human and at one point or another we are ALL guilty of having selective hearing, speaking before we think, and getting angry about something small.  I know I am guilty of everything I just listed...what about you?  Nobody's perfect.  We all have tempers and we all let our emotions get the best of us sometimes...it happens.  But is it okay?

The Bible is here for us to reference or go to for everyday reading, prayer and learning.  I'm sure there are people reading this who think I'm crazy for dedicating a post to the Word EVERY Wednesday on my blog!  But for me, reading scripture inspires me to be the best person, wife, friend, neighbor & believer I can be.  Living up to my full potential makes me happy.  Whenever I have questions, concerns or queries I always know where to turn to.

But, reading and applying the Word are two different things... 

Whenever I get angry, upset or completely at a loss about a situation, my first instinct is to remove myself completely.  Once I calm down, I start to access what happened and majority of the time I see that an argument or my feelings of anger came from something that has nothing to do with the situation at all.  James 1 says to "be quick to listen."  How many of us can honestly say we listen to what anyone at any given time is telling us and putting our complete attention towards them?  Not many I'm sure, with myself being included in that group.  I can't tell you how many questions, mistakes and even arguments I could have avoided, if all I had done was really listened to what someone was telling me.

Be "slow to speak and slow to become angry," IE: bite your tongue and think before you speak.  If you have an outspoken or strong personality, this can be something extremely difficult to do. When people argue there are usually things said that nobody really means to say, and they will then come back later to say "you know I didn't really mean that, right?"  The solution to this? The book of James is clear by saying think before you open your mouth!  If what you are about to say might be taken the wrong way or even offend the person you're talking to, maybe you shouldn't say it.  On the other side, don't take everything so personal and become quickly angered from it.  There is usually an explanation to every situation, and there's no room to hear the other side of the story if you don't give the person a chance!  LISTEN, THINK and respond only after you've done so.

One last thing about this verse...it mentions that failing to follow these steps does not result in a "righteous life that God desires."  To me this sounds like ignorance, offensive words and a quick temperament is not part of a righteous (or even happy) life.

God doesn't ask us to do things that don't make sense. His words are wise and I'm excited to be sharing a weekly WOW with you...

See you next Wednesday!