Fighting!

When did you last get in an argument or fight? Like a real fight, a real argument, you were actually upset... Do you remember what it was about? If Yes keep reading, if no... keep reading. I think that a lot of our arguments and fights are because we feel a sense of entitlement. In some cases we are right, but I think a lot of the time it is simply the sense that we think we deserve better or should get things OUR way or that THEY are wrong. Pride seems to be at the centre of a lot of our arguments. I think a lot of this has to do with the culture that we live in but can not be fully attributed to it. A lot of the time these arguments could be resolved if we stepped back looked at the situation and stopped thinking about ourselves. If we lay down our pride and looked to lifting somebody else up rather than "winning" the argument. A lot of the petty arguments and anger that infilitrates our lives comes from this sense of entitlement. We have this sense in our culture that "we deserve the best" therefore if we get anything less than what we deserve we get mad, get angry, DESERVE BETTER.

It is not an easy thing to just remove yourself from a situation and tell yourself that well maybe it is just my ego in the way. Trust me, I have struggled with anger issues for the better part of 16 years and by the grace of God have been described as "always happy" nowadays. This is not true, obviously, I am not always happy but I like to think that I am able to remove myself from situations better, something that came with practice and God's help in self-control. Yet, a lot of the times I got angry it was not even justified, but it was because I felt that I deserved better, that I should have gotten better, or that something went wrong so something must be wrong with someone/something else. I pointed the finger instead of looking at my own expectations and what I thought I deserved.

Many times Jesus demonstrates and talks about being a servant. Often times we take this to mean actually physically serving others. I think we can miss the full extent of this meaning, and instead serve others through humbling ourselves before them. In everyday life, whether the person at the drive-thru window got your order wrong, whether someone makes a small mistake that costs you, in a bunch of situations. humbling ourselves before others is a huge thing that we seem to be missing today.

Now there are times where anger is okay. Many times we point to the fact that Jesus got angry when turning over the temples too far. But we need to continually ask ourselves, am I angry for the right reasons? Is this something that could be avoided by me simply laying down my expectations for myself and serving others? Or is it something that needs to be dealt with and anger is an appropriate response. I think we will find that most of the time the first option is completely acceptable.

So next time your angry take a step back and try humbling yourself, ask God to give you the self-control to do this and try lowering your expectations for yourself and for others towards you. Humble yourselves.

God Bless