I Lost it Today...

The day started out well. My wife and I took our cat in for a checkup- and her belly will be alright so long as we keep her on the antibiotics. Afterward, we looked at washers and dryers at Sears and grabbed Walery's on the way home. The kids love pizza (and so do we) and we had the Cloudy with a chance of meatballs DVD.

It was all going well. Then, I lost it.

2 of my boys started an argument, a stupid argument which didn't even need to take place. As a result, I stepped in and tried to break it up. My eldest son, whom I struggle with almost daily, decided that he was going to scream at me and would not stop, no matter what I said. I wanted to knock him out, quite honestly. However, I KNOW that this isn't God's will. At any rate, I was mad. He was mad. I didn't harm my son, but I could tell that I was no longer in control. My wife stepped in and took over, so that I could cool down. I decided to go for a walk; and ended up walking a couple of miles while listening to the Daily Audio Bible pod-casts which were saved on my phone.

After I got home, my son and I apologized to each other and things were generally alright until bedtime. Then, no one wanted to get into (or stay) bed. My temper began to flare up again. Thankfully, there were no more outbursts and the end of the night progressed peacefully. Now that we're past the stress, my reflection of the days' events show that I wrestled and anger and lost. I'm left looking at the following scriptures, to show how I should have handled the conflict.

1. "The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook a transgression." (Proverbs 19:11)

2. "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

3. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19)

4. "He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly." (Proverbs 14:29)

5. "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it only causes harm." (Psalms 37:8)

6. "A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; for if you deliver him, you will have to do it again." (Proverbs 19:19)

7. "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls." (Proverbs 25:28)

8. "He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly ..." (Proverbs 14:17)

9. "Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another ... do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil ... And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you." (Ephesians 4:25-32)

Let's keep this in mind and really put it to use tomorrow.

Good Night