Quick to Listen, Slow to Anger: Ending the Trash Talk

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”James 1:19-20Seeking revenge or trash talking someone else when they hurt us is easy to do. We all have time everyday where someone has trash talked us or hurt us in some way. A few years ago Valerie, my wife, had her father’s flowers stolen from his grave. She made these out of aluminum and they were weather proof and beautiful. One of a kind really. Anyhow, she is so upset she wanted to make more and set up cameras etc. to try and catch the thief. We’ve all be there for sure. I told her I understand 100% how she feels, but God doesn’t want her to give the crime life by seeking revenge. I told her they would answer for it one day and let’s let it go so we can let go of the resentment. This got me thinking about all the negative things that come at us everyday. There is no avoiding it, but there is something we can do on our end.You see, you are going to be criticized today. Disagreeable people will drain energy from you. Someone will let you down. Something positive you hoped for will not happen.But you can take a lot of trash out of your life by reducing the trash talk. And since you have complete control over your own mouth, that means you have the power right away to eliminate 50 percent of it.You bet it doesn’t. Venting your anger on someone else briefly feels good, because you think you gave somebody a piece of your mind, but now you’re worse off because the other person is plotting a nasty comeback and is going to hit you harder. You will truly feel better inside if you don’t go off on other people. Have the self-awareness to know if your desire to retaliate is coming from your own insecurity or shame. Realize that some people’s trash talk is an attempt by a person who feels small trying to make himself or herself bigger. Jesus is your hero. He was an anger heat sink, absorbing injustice instead of seeking revenge. You get more points from God for ending an argument than for trying to crush an opponent.In today’s devotional, truly Grace Wins!So, Be Nice.