Day 202
Proverbs 25:8
"Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame."
We often get ourselves in trouble when we react too quickly. Someone may have told us something, and we rushed to deal with a situation without understanding the full story. As a result, we were embarrassed and had to apologize for misunderstandings.
In Proverbs 25:8, Solomon said, "Go not forth hastily." We should calm ourselves down and realize that the end of the world has not come, and the situation we are confronted with will probably not drastically alter the course of nature for us. Solomon advised us to slow down and avoid rushing into situations we do not understand completely. We could end up not knowing how to get ourselves out of the messes we create because of our ignorance.
Taking time to calm down not only allows us to sensibly find out more details before we react, but it also allows us time to pray and get in the right frame of mind, so God can help protect us from saying the wrong things. Although men are challenged in this area, women especially have a tendency to unnecessarily turn the regular check-up room into an emergency care unit.
When Jesus was pressured by the religious leaders to respond to the woman caught in adultery, he had a prime opportunity to react irresponsibly. Those low down men brought the woman without the man! For someone who cared so much about the plight of women, Jesus could have blown his cool. Instead, He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When He got up and spoke, the accusers had to leave ashamed.
We must recognize our need to improve in the area of self control. Let us commit this area of need to God and begin to declare by faith our progress in this area. With God's help, we will find ourselves having less and less regrets about the way we handle situations.
God is at work in me. I am improving in self-control My words and actions are appropriate for the situations I deal with.