Jealousy

Proverbs 27:4
Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but who can survive the destructiveness of jealousy?

It's true, anger is pretty cruel. When we are angry, we don't always say or do the right thing. It relies on a source to stoke the fire until we are counting down; 3, 2, 1 and bang, we have blown our top. Most of the time, anger fizzles out and we move on. Sometimes it may fester into something else. Wrath is usually a result of anger. It is the action to the emotion. It is what we do when everything comes spilling out of our blown tops and we have lost all control. Jealousy is different. It weaves anger and wrath together, causing us to make a destructive path all around us. First of all, it attacks our very being, our self-confidence that we are to be happy with who we are, who God created us to be. It convinces us that we are not good enough. If it does not succeed there, it creates the image that the person that we are jealous of is doing it on purpose, that they want to hurt us. It destroys all of our relationships. It causes us to build walls and to put wedges in other relationships.

Look at Cain and Able (Genesis 4). They were the first set of brothers ever recorded in the Bible, children of Adam and Eve. Cain killed Abel because he let his anger fester and turn into wrath. He became so destructive he took his own brother's life. Sometimes jealousy makes our purpose in life grow dim, or it replaces our desire for certain things with the desire to be better than someone else, to be more successful, to drive the better vehicle, have the better wife, be a better mom, etc..

Do you have a jealousy story? What was the outcome of your jealousy? Is it possible that you may be jealous now? What happens when jealousy takes root in your heart. Is it time for some weeding? Time to let go of the lies that you may be holding on to. Is it time for you to stop looking at what everyone else has and what you don't? What can you do today to stop jealousy in your life?

Dear Lord,
I want to thank you first for being a God that is jealous of us. How you desire so deeply that we would be in a relationship with you. Lord, I pray that we would never let our desires, our jealousy cloud our character and reflection of you. That we could understand how destructive it is to let our hearts be open to jealousy. Lord, I ask that you work in and through each of our lives. Please help us to get rid of all jealousy and to be able to love as we want to be loved. Amen.

Anger Day 2

Day 2

Anger: Our human response

As a mom, there have been many reasons to enjoy life. I have also encountered many reasons to be angry. This is not the only relationship that I have found myself in an angry fit over something. Does this mean I have an anger problem? Looking at all the meanings of the word, I believe that it is an emotion that we share right along with our God. I am praising him that he has enough self-control not to administer his wrath upon us each time we provoke him to anger (which I am sure is millions of times more than I have ever been provoked). I would, however, prefer to have fewer instances where my tolerance meter is redlined.

I remember after I had my second daughter, a friend of mine gave me a book called She's Gonna Blow. I loved the book and felt it was exactly what I needed at the time to help me with the realities of life and parenting. Books, however are not always the best answer to our emotions. I picked up a book that I have on my shelf about anger. The authors thoughts on what is the best thing to do with it, believe it or not, made me angry! No where did it say anything about how to recognize it when it happens, the book dealt with anger as a disease, something that we need to cure. It was full of opinion. I understand that I am writing my opinion as well and many times others do not agree with me, so I will try to be sensitive. There is only one book that we can trust completely on this subject, God's Word, the Bible.

Anger is an emotion, plain and simple. I believe God gave us emotions for a reason. They can be warning signs that something is not right or ways to help us grieve, celebrate. They are there for a reason and if we treat them like a disease, we will not know how to care for and nurture our feelings and emotions. There are so many suggestions of how to get anger under control: count to ten, breathe really deep through your nose ten times, think of something happy, are just a few. the problem is that I usually end up counting dow from 10 to 1 and blow up, breathing really deep like an angry bull and think of how happy I will be when I have had my revenge. It is all in the way you perceive the advice in which you are given. That is why when we read the Bible, it is clear enough for us to understand.

In the definitions of anger, there were many types of anger. Two of them relate to how we as human beings tend to treat anger. There is the Orge, which is the one that we bottle up and let fester into a full blown attack, it is active and it looks for revenge. Then there is the thumos, which is the instant outburst and then subsides. Neither of these is more healthy than the other. They both pull us away from God. They both cause us to be physically and spiritually sick.

Proverbs 14:29 Anyone who is patient has great understanding. But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish he is.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 Don't become angry quickly. Anger lives in the hearts of foolish people.

Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered person starts fights; a cool-tempered person stops them.

Proverbs 29:22 An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

Proverbs 19:11 Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Psalm 37:8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.

So what can we do in our flesh to ward off the bottle it up anger and the 3-2-1 anger? We can recognize the anger, then hit our knees. We can pray for patience to be able to understand the situation better, look for ways you could have misunderstood. Is there even a reason to respond to what has angered you? Is it better to overlook it? What will your witness look like? Maybe even running it by a third person will help you to see it from another perspective. It is always best to look for resolution instead of more reasons to be angry. You will need good judgement to do that and in times when we are angry, we don't tend to have good judgement. If you are one who likes to right a wrong, then try to bathe your attitude and thoughts in love (fully emerse them if you have too) and then take care of it as soon as possible, not allowing the sun to set on your anger. (Eph. 4:26). This is also a good way for you to build perserverance, grow tolerance and develop a gentle spirit. Remember that in our anger, we can grow in our relationship with God. We just have to be open to learning how to respond and not allowing the anger to hinder our relationship with God.

Dear Lord, thank you for teaching me that today, I can trust your word, I can take steps to ward off anger and I can come to you, on my knees, and you will help me to grow stronger and closer to you. Help me get this today, so that I can stop visiting the same lesson over and over again. Help those who are reading to be able to respond as you would have them. As you respond when we anger you. Amen.

Please pray for Kelly M. this week.

Anger Day 1

Day 1

Anger/ Angry

orge- any natural ipulse, or desire, or disposition. Anger is the strongest of all passions. It is the wrath of man. It suggests a more settled or abiding condition of mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge. Less sudden, more lasting in its nature. It is an active emotion.

thumos- agitated condition of the feelings, an outburst of wrath from inward indignation. Sudden, inward feeling quickly blazes up then subsides. Revenge isn't usually the outcome.

parorgismus- a strengthened form of orge. what provokes wrath. less continued state than orge.

orgizo- implies a just occassion for the feeling. Hebrew word that signifies to quiver with strong emotion, to provoke, to arouse to anger.

aganaktesis- physical pain or irritation. Made up of 2 words combined to mean very much, to grieve.

chalao/chole- gall, bile - metaphorically signified bitter anger, means to be enraged.

Wow, looks like I have my work cut out for me this week. One word with so many meenings, no wonder it is such a strong feeling, we don't know how to explain it easily. I hope I can bring some insight to this that will leave us better equipped to recognize and respond correctly to this emotion. If you have any type of a testimony about anger, and you would like to share, send it to womenofworship1@gmail.com. Thank you.

Please pray for Kelly M. this week.

19 My dear brothers and sisters, pay attention to what I say. Everyone should be quick to listen. But they should be slow to speak. They should be slow to get angry. 20 A man's anger doesn't produce the kind of life God wants. James 1:19-20

Dear Lord, I thank you for this week and for what I have already learned about anger. I am going to pray right now for an extra measure of patience. Especially this week as I double as mom and dad to our 3 daughters. Will you also bless those who need to read this, will it help them in some way to walk closer with you. Amen