For years I have worked at the outward signs of anger.Raising my voice,using bad tones,having a mad look on my face etc. etc. but I have recently realized that I have been going about it the wrong way.
What is the Lord's answer to overcoming temptation? All through scripture we see the same admonition.Avoid it,seperate yourselves,refrain from it,
1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived:evil communications corrupt good manners.
Proverbs 4:14,15 Enter not into the path of the wicked,and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it,pass not by it,turn from it,and pass away.
Proverbs 1:10,15 My son,if sinners entice thee,consent thou not....................(15) My son,walk not thou in the way with them;refrain thy foot from their path.
Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire into his bosom,and his clothes not be burned?
Luke 11:4 .........And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.
When we become a christian that doesn't mean that we are above temptation.The Lord tells us to avoid it if at all possible.He doesn't say to go around it and then pray real hard that you don't fall.He says to flee from it if at all possible! Yes,we should pray for strength to be overcomers in this world, but we also need to follow the directions that he already gave us!Yes,if we are faced with temptations,we should not give into them.We CAN overcome them with God's help but the FIRST step is to make sure that we are following HIS commandments and refraining as much as possible.
So that means that a struggling alcoholic should not have a 12 pack in his refrigerator.He should not go to a bar and watch everyone drink and he should not be hanging around other alcoholics.He can't do all of these things willingly and expect to overcome the temptation.The Lord's ways are best and if he tells us that "evil communications corrupt good manners" who are we to say "Oh,I won't be influenced or tempted!" ?????
So how does this apply to anger?
I was thinking......By allowing myself to BE angry but trying to control the outward signs of anger,I am,in a sense..................the alcoholic trying not to drink the beer sitting in front of him.I need to just follow the scripture:
Proverbs 16:32
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
I need to eliminate the anger and the outward signs of anger will vanish! It is foolish to allow the anger to live with me and try not to be influenced by it's powers.I need to kick it out!
I have already seen it work in one area of my life and so I am really convinced.I used to get frustrated/mad at my dh over little things and often.Little STUPID things.I was quick to be angry at him.I was quick to get over it too and I always felt so bad!
Well,some dear MOMYS made a post challenging everyone to list 25 things that they love about their husbands.I had no troubles making my list and after I was done I thought...."How could I ever get mad at this man??????????/" I decided to just STOP it! I have always thought he was WONDERFUL and the best thing that has ever happened to me in this life but making that list just really opened my eyes even wider.I only have so much time with this godly man and I am sure not going to spend it feeling anger at him over silly things!Neither of us are perfect!
Well it has been wonderful and it works! Now I am working on eliminating my anger with my children! It is to easy to get frustrated when you have so many children to train! I get frustrated to quickly with them and it needs to stop.They are so precious and they deserve a patient mother.No,I am not angry all the time.....I am usually very happy......I do struggle with frustration though,sometimes every day.I am praying that I can get over this and I know I will with HIS help.
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