4 minute read
“For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.” (Proverbs 30:33 NIV)
Stirring up anger produces strife.
Whatever side of the political spectrum you reside, this year has proven the effectiveness of stirring up anger. Social media posts poking and prodding at the other party are intentionally trying to anger people. The negative emotion becomes a drug. People wait expectantly for the next day’s news, feeding their anger further. But the only thing anger produces is strife. If you want less battle in your life, divorce yourself from anger.
Each morning, my husband turns on the news. After I’ve spent time reading my Bible, journaling my thoughts and prayers to God, I sit with my husband as he begins his day. Typically, I can only tolerate about 10 minutes of the news before I feel the anger begin to rise. Men trying to control something only God can control, irritates me. People’s lack of faith is annoying to me. To stop the rise of my emotions, I divorce myself from the situation by turning off the television. You have a choice. You don’t have to do what everyone else does.
Divorce yourself from the anger.
One night, while having friends over for dinner, we were talking. Honestly, I can’t remember the topic, either politics or COVID, maybe both. Because she didn’t like what we were talking about, she simply said, “I’m divorcing myself from this conversation.” I had never heard anyone say that phrase before that moment. What I appreciated was her self-awareness to her emotions. Recognizing the conversation was stirring up negative feelings inside of her, she made a choice. She divorced herself from the conversation and didn’t feed into the negativity rising within her. We all can learn from her actions.
When you are in a situation that is stirring up anger within you, make a choice. Divorce yourself from the situation. Choose what emotions you feed. If a friend’s posts on Facebook are bringing up negative emotions, don’t follow them. Hiding posts is easy. Divorce yourself from their negativity. People are making those posts intentionally to insight anger. When they do, strife follows. We have all seen the innocent post that turns into a political arguement. My husband loves to read the comments, I don’t. The words infuriate me, not him. People losing friendships over politics breaks my heart.
Before the internet, people had political discussions face-to-face. When you discuss politics personally, people don’t say the nasty things they say from behind a screen. If you can’t say something to someone’s face, don’t post it on Facebook. Remember, behind every screen name is a person with feelings and emotions.
Stirring up anger causes strife. Divorce yourself from the anger to avoid strife.
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Question of the Day:
What anger do you need to divorce yourself from today?
Further Reading: Zechariah 10:1-11:17 NIV, Revelation 18:1-24 NIV, Psalm 146:1-10 NIV, Proverbs 30:33 NIV
