Don't Get Mad Over Spilt Milk

As you all should know, we finished Romans! Which now means that it is time for another book to be studied through; and that book is James! My personal favorite book. Let's start!

James 1:20

In the beginning chapter of James' letter, he pours out much wisdom and informs us that, "The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

That is such a deep verse when you really read into it. Think about it for a moment: how often do we angry? Whether we're mad for a second because we hit our toe against the wall or we are in the midst of holding a grudge because someone betrayed us. No matter how it comes up or how long it lasts for, anger is anger. "The anger of man." Anger comes from man. God does not hold anger in His emotional chest, it's not His! Since anger is of man, it is of the flesh, and as we know, anything being of the flesh is sin created by Satan. Anger is from Satan and is a sin. "...does not produce the righteousness of God." Isn't that our goal though? To be showing the righteousness of God throughout the earth? But, James is saying here that if we are angry, we are doing the exact opposite of what we are aiming for! We're not helping God when we are revealing angry, we are working against Him! We are just showing more and more proof that Satan is active with the more anger we show. 

I think this is a gimme with the take away: we need to develop patience and relaxation in our lives. Instead of instantly getting upset and angry over your jammed toe, just take a moment to wonder if screaming a curse word and yelling is going to help. Is it? No. So then why do it? Why not just sit right on the ground and hold it to try and muffle the pain? That requires patience. Same thing goes for speech. If someone says something that would normally anger us, just sit back, relax, and think about if that is really something worth getting mad about. Just lightly brush it off, or lovingly react to what they said. Praying for patience and peace is a genuine prayer that will be answered. Letting go of anger and holding onto love and peace is something we all need to do. This is something everyone struggles with, and it can be solved. Living a life more surrounded by peace, patience and love is the key to flourishing God's righteousness.