Managed and controlled…

Don't you wish the world was a perfect place?  Here are some definitions of a perfect world:

• Chocolate would have no calories. 
  
• Procrastination would be honored as a virtue. 
• Teenagers would rather clean their rooms than talk on the phone. 
• Politicians would pay us taxes. 
• Children on trips would say, "Isn't riding in the car fun?" and then they'd go to sleep. 
• Candy would be considered a vegetable. 
• Children would not develop vocal chords until after theymove a way from home. 
• Men would go through labor.

 Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world so we have to deal with this secret of healthy relationships, Patience, because we all need patience in an imperfect world.

Proverbs 14:29 (NIV), "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly."  He says it's wise to be patient but it's foolish to be quick tempered. 

Now you can't talk about patience without talking about anger because that's what patience means.  It means slow to get angry. 

The Greek word for patience is "macro thumos".  "Macro" means "long, or slow", "thumos" means "heat or energy or anger or wrath" – slow to get angry, you have a long fuse, you don't boil over quickly, you know how to manage your anger. 

Anger is not wrong.  God gave you the capacity to get angry.  Anger is not always wrong.  Sometimes anger is the appropriate response to a situation.  If you don't ever get angry you're a vegetable.  Did GOD ever get angry?  Sure, at the right things.  Did JESUS ever get angry?  Yes.  GOD has given you the capacity to get angry.  But it must be managed.  It's got to be controlled.  Anger out of control is very destructive in your relationships.  But anger in control is an asset. 

Just a thought from the front porch…