“The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love.” Psalm 145:8 NIV

Choose Love Over Anger

I spent Labor Day weekend cleaning out the garage. One of the things I found while sorting through school stuff was the following written by my youngest child when she was in 7th or 8th grade for chapel at Country Christian School. With her permission I thought I’d share it.

When something doesn’t go your way or when someone does you wrong, do you respond with anger or do you respond with love? The way we respond and/or react can not only make the situation better or worse, but it can also show what kind of person we are. Responding with anger, maybe even wrath, can make everything much worse. Anger is like a fire: once it gets on you, it consumes you, unless you put it out.

Proverbs 27:3 “A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.”

Proverbs 29:8 “Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath.”

Proverbs 30:33 “For as the churning of milk produces butter, and wringing the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife.”

Not only will getting angry hurt other people, it will hurt you. Being angry over everything isn’t healthy and it’s not going to change anything. You always have two choices: let the fire consume you, or pour living water over it. As Christians, we should always strive to follow Jesus’ example, even though it can be hard sometimes. Jesus was constantly accused or confronted for things He didn’t do, yet He always responded with love and always remained calm.

1 Corinthians 16:14 “Let all that you do be done with love.”

Matthew 5:39 “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

Even when Jesus did get angry, it was for the right reason. He didn’t let it consume Him—he snuffed the fire out.

Matthew 21:12-14 “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.”

Just like Jesus, we can respond with love and compassion. We represent Christ, so every action, word and thought matters. Even if we didn’t, it’s just common sense not to get heated over something that isn’t actually worth any of it.

Father God, thank You for the wisdom You impart to babes; by Your Spirit help us to choose love and compassion over anger and wrath. Amen.