[196 words]
An Old Chinese proverb goes like this: “If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” I’m not sure about the number of days, but the basic idea is certainly true.
Any of these sound familiar? “I wish I hadn’t said what I did.” “I would give anything if I had kept my mouth shut.” “I wish I could take it back.” Most of us have been forced to use one or more of these, or similar, expressions.
What about the determination to keep ourselves under control? Some brag that they speak their mind. Those who have to hear them know that is not a good thing.
The rest of us need, in calmer moments, to resolve that we will speak with poise, even when provoked. Each of us needs to say, “I am determined, with God’s help, not to let anyone make me angry enough to lose control of my temper. When we lose control, we lose. Remember the words of Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Allen Hahn
Rosenberg, TX