Yesterday was not a good day for thinking right thoughts. I was irritable. I know this because everyone was particularly irritating. Maybe the children really did need to go work off some energy. Maybe they’re going through some emotional stage. Maybe Laurel’s getting a tooth. Maybe…
I need a good talking to. Right now.
You see, the problem is not external to me. I was annoyed, because I was not walking in the spirit. All of those external things might be true, but they’re not what cause me to be angry (irritated is a euphemism for anger). I guess I need the same passages I’m trying to teach my children. And I know that part of the problem is also that I’ve not been reading the Bible with same devotion that I should. I’m distracted when I read, and when I don’t get seize control of my attention, my reading is next to worthless.
I also need to ask forgiveness: God, my children, probably, the dog. [Should one ask forgiveness of a dog?] I think we’ll be talking about this at the breakfast table this morning.
What should I be meditating on today?
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:1-7
It doesn’t matter how knowledgeable I am about God’s Word. It doesn’t matter if I accomplish thus-and-so much. Those things don’t matter if I do not love my children as I ought.
How can I love them today? I can be patient when they spill milk on my new tablecloth. I can help them when they are overwhelmed with cleaning all the kindergarten blocks. I can deal with discipline problems before they build up. There’s more, but the sun is rising and so should I.
Jay Younts says
14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for[f]the sins of the people. 18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Heb 2:14-18
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Heb 4:14-16
Michelle,
I find that when I get irritated it is usually because I have lost sight of Christ and how he suffered specifically so that he could help me when I am irritated and short with those whom I love. As my appreciation for Christ grows smaller, my irritation with others tends to grow. These passages along with Psalm 46, 73 and I Peter 2:18-25 help me regain my focus and deep gratitude for the sufficient love of Christ in my life. They help remind me that Christ has to “put up” with a lot more from me daily than I whatever it is that I think have to “endure” from my children and others in my life. Jay
Diane Heeney says
We are so good at euphemisms in Christian circles…we get on unbelievers for not “calling sin what it is”…yet what do we do? My favorite “anger incognito” term used to be “frustrated”.
I know when I find myself becoming irritable, that “my time” is just around the corner. I am ordinarily pretty easy going…but not then. I need to police those days before hand and gear myself for that extra challenge better than I do. If it has become that predictable…that I expect it…it is foolish not to prepare for it (talking to myself here…)!
Something that I have done in the past is plugged my own name into that passage from 1 Cor. 13…wherever the word “charity” or “love” appears. That is a convicting exercise.
Michelle says
You’re right, Diane, that our hormones do affect the ease with which we meet life’s challenges. 🙂