A Life of Anger Thursday, May 3 2007

O.K.  I’m taking a short break from my schedule-making series to talk about something that impacted me yesterday morning.  However, I will not be breaking from the manly theme Bill desires.  I’ll prove it later on. 

A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine told me that she was still angry with me about a sin I had committed against her almost 2 1/2 years before.  I was shocked that someone could hold a grudge for that long, but then I began realizing that my heart is just as black in the same area.  You can see a post referring to some of my struggles here.  I began looking closely at my friend and realized that although she is a believer, she is a woman with little joy.  She becomes bitter and angry easily and talks about things and people that bother her for long periods of time.  It is much easier for her to see others’ sins than her own, so she has never dealt with this heart issue.  Sadly, she seems to be full of resentment about life and lacking in contentment.  As I examined myself, I saw that I was headed down the same road and that I needed much grace to heal me from this disease of hate.  So, I began praying for the grace needed, looking wherever I could for wisdom from others and meditating on scripture about anger.

I am currently reading through Life As a Vapor by John Piper, a man (see–manly ), and yesterday he had these words:

“Remember that God will vindicate your just cause and settle all accounts better than you could.  Either your offender will pay in hell, or Christ has paid for him.  You payback would be either double jeopardy or an offense to the cross.  “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Romans 12:19).  “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting [his cause] to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).”

How that convicted me!  There are many passages that speak against the sin of anger, but I had never though about it quite like that.  I should be sad, not angry, when unbelievers sin against me because I know what anguish they will one day face.  And when a believer sins against me, I have no right to be angry because Christ has already covered the offense as He has all of mine.  How sinful and ugly my heart is to think I have a right to hold a grudge toward anyone!  But how righteous and beautiful God is because he is just, merciful, and sovereign!

 P.S.  Make sure to read Bill’s funny blog below.

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A New Method of Money Management Thursday, May 3 2007

As you might imagine, as a (mainly) single-income family where my salary is for an entry-level position, money gets a little tight sometimes.  Therefore, we’re constantly trying to more effectively manage our money so that we have enough to live, save, and give.  To say it simply, we have made a lot of mistakes on the way and have learned a lot.  Sometimes we do well, and end the month with more money than we started it.  Other times, we don’t do so well and find that we basically threw away our money for the month on stupid stuff.  But, like I said, we’re slowly learning to use our money more responsibly.

Well, last night we received an unusual lesson in money management from our son.  Liam is apparently developing a rather utilitarian approach to life.  Since he doesn’t say a whole lot, I can only speculate as to his reasoning.  So, here’s what I think was going through our little toddler’s mind: “You know, I’ve been watching how you two spend money and I’m not sure that you always appreciate it.  Not only have you at times thrown money away, you’ve wasted it on frivolous things, exposing your tendency for both a lack of discretion and a penchant for materialism.  Basically, you’re wasting your money on worthless stuff.  So, to keep our lives uncluttered, I’m going to bypass the ‘worthless stuff’ and just throw your money away for you.”  Which he then proceeded to do–literally–with a twenty dollar bill. 

Of course, I may be reading too much into the situation.  It could be that our cute little guy, who had been playing with my wallet while Court and I loaded the dishwasher, threw the cash away in the kitchen trash can, apparently thinking the crumpled bill (which wasn’t originally crumpled) looked a lot like trash that needed to be thrown away.  But I think I know my little boy well enough to know what’s really going on…

And for all the expectant male readers out there, my next post will be: The Woes of a Grill-less Man.  Coming soon to a blog near you.

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