A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. Proverbs 29:11
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11
Heavenly Father, on any given day we face multiple opportunities to get selfishly irritated, exasperated, and angered. And on the same day, we face just as many opportunities to be dangerously indifferent, passive and non-engaged. What but the gospel can help us avoid both extremes, and to know what’s to be overlooked and what’s to be taken very seriously?
Father, forgive us when traffic delays bother us more than human trafficking. Forgive us when we show more irritation towards our children than vexation about starving children in the world. Forgive us when we get more offended by a personal slight than grieved when your name is taken in vain.
Forgive us when get more angered by the loss of our favorite sports team than enraged over the exploitation of the poor in our communities. Forgive us when we get more depressed over someone buying the house we really wanted than we are distressed about the growing population of homeless people in our cities and by the number of families losing their homes to foreclosure.
Forgive us when we waste our anger on pettiness, revenge, and holding grudges, rather than investing our passion in issues of justice, mercy and advocacy. Forgive us when we fuel our critical spirit by rehearsing the sins of others, even though we know you will never again remember our sins against us.
Forgive us when we get more disgusted with our spouse’s imperfections than humbled by our own. Forgive us when we are more vexed about what our friends and family members haven’t done for us, than we are astonished and grateful for everything you have done for us. Forgive us when we get angry over our foiled plans, even though we know you to be our thoroughly sovereign loving Father. Forgive us when we gossip more than we gospel. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ mighty and merciful name.