Slow to Anger

James 1:19-20

"Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God".

I get angry and I can get angry very quickly when I am upset. I know it is not good or very Christan-like of me. 

I would prefer the term Jesus Follower to Christian because some people who are so-called Christians tend to hate and not love like Jesus did. All I want to do is love like Jesus and show others the kindness that He showed and gave us. 

I am going to step on some toes, but sometimes the church makes me angry. Not the building as the church, but the people. They can act one way on a Sunday morning and then treat you like garbage any other day of the week. This has happened to me many times. They treated me so well on Sunday morning and then that following Tuesday, they were mad and upset at something I couldn’t control. They were taking their emotions out on me. They were not showing me the love that Jesus would have shown that we just learned about a few days before. 

There are so many good people in the world who are part of the church. They can care and love like no one else. I accept and love all people because that is how Jesus would act. I want people to feel safe and welcome with me. 

I am not judging because I do the same thing. I can express my emotions or say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I try my best not to, but it happens. It happens to all of us whether we like it or not. 

I need to live life more peacefully and be slow to anger. Others who you love have different opinions of the same things. You may prefer one thing and they choose the other. You and they have the right to that opinion. But you shouldn’t hate or cause hate because of that opinion.

I want to be slow to anger. I don’t want to get upset about the little things like I have been. Holidays and other big events that cause stress can trigger anger. The short tempered self can cause a lot of anger and events that can be bad for some people. 

So when I get angry, I try to remember to take in a breath and slowly exhale. Try to stay calm. I try to do just one task at a time. When I have too many tasks, it overwhelms me and I get angry. But I slow down and so one thing at a time. I am only human.

“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson