Monday, September 14, 2009

Soon Angry or Slow to Wrath?


"He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and
a man of wicked devices is hated." Proverbs 14:17

"He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty
of spirit exalteth folly." Proverbs 14:29

How often am I soon angry? Too often, I'm sure. So, how often do I deal foolishly? Well, too often on that one as well, but by the grace of God I am getting better and doing better all the time. Every day is a fresh chance, and with a house full of children, who by their very nature are in constant need of training and guidance, every day will have a chance (or many chances) to practice being 'slow to wrath', for I sure don't want to be one to exalt folly.

There are certainly times to be angry in this life, but being 'soon angry', especially when it comes to our children, can do a lot of damage to the atmosphere of our homes, and to the relationships which mean the most to us in this life.

Every time we have another toddler rising up in the ranks of our family, and we start to see 'terrible twos' temper tantrums and fits of anger over petty things like "I wanted that color crayon!!" and we start to work on a.) training for self-control and b.) disciplining for lack of self-control, I am reminded of the importance of this issue.

I have never been good at self-control. I wasn't trained to have good character, though I may have picked up a few 'good' things by watching Little House on the Prairie, The Cosby Show, and Family Ties... I have been striving to improve that (one of many) character flaw(s) in my life, and I want my children to have an easier go of it than me. I know my children are human, that makes them sinners like the rest of us. They will have struggles, and they will even have failures, but if I can help them overcome some of these common-to-man faults, to develop a strong inner character, then I truly believe they will be stronger, and better, adults than I have been, and that makes all of the hard work of parenting not only worth it, but utterly essential!

Striving for that great understanding,
practicing being slow to wrath,
enjoying them,
because of Him,
ali

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1 Comments:

Blogger Amy said...

Thanks for sharing the scripture thoughts. It is so easy to become angry way to quickly. Definitely something for me to ponder this afternoon. Thanks!

September 14, 2009 at 3:27 PM  

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