James 1:19

 

I started a devotional for 52 weeks. It's a scripture for each week that way you really focus on that scripture and let it sink it. This was last weeks verse. Any of my coworkers can tell you that delivering bad news to me is like walking into the lions den. I'm a hot head, I pop off. They will drop the bomb and run. So for this one to be the first verse it was funny. 

I'm a very fast paced, full throttle, pedal to the metal kinda gal. Go big or go home, loud, wild, fun. So when I get quiet, somethings wrong. This verse is challenging. Mainly because the word SLOW is in it. I have had to slow down on a lot of things even though many things in the side view have been going faster than I would have liked. (Don't ask my boss, he would disagree with that.)

However, there was one situation that I handled a lot differently than I normally would because I slowed down. I thought about it. I processed it. And I actually talked to someone about it instead of just saying, "It is what it is," and letting it be. 

This scripture doesn't say that wrath is bad. Sometimes being angry in the right context, righteous anger, is correct. Handling it the RIGHT WAY is what we need to do. Jumping up and down like my 3 year olds do is not the correct light. Making sure that we handle things in a mature matter is what we are supposed to do as Christians. 

Sitting and throwing ourselves a pity party isn't how we handle things either. In the situation that I was referring to above, I could have complained and done just that. I could have just sat and whined about everything. But do you know how ridiculous that would have looked? I'll make sure to take a video of myself doing that when I do it the next time in my class. I do it often to show the kids what they look like. It's quite fun honestly. 

Maybe you don't have a problem with anger. Maybe you don't listen first. Maybe you jump to conclusions. (My hands raised there too.) Maybe you talk too quickly without processing what you are going to say and then you regret what you say. (Also my hand there...) This scripture hits so many different areas that we need to keep in check. 

The Bible tells us that there is life and death in the tongue. We have to be mindful of what we are speaking. How are we talking to people. We can't undo the damage that we do with the words we say in anger. I also heard a speaker talk about curses coming from the mouth yesterday and that kinda hit too. Chopping people down and worshiping God on a Sunday morning. I have to be mindful of that because the Bible warns us about sarcasm as well. 

Anyway, if you're still there because of all the ADHD sidetracks because the meds haven't kicked in this morning..... Fixing all this won't happen overnight. And that's okay. Being aware of it is the first step. That's one HUGE thing that I've learned over the last year with my weight loss. Being aware of things I wasn't aware of before. Happy Monday 💙