Welcome and Blessings!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I have named this blog "Running to the Cross" because that is what I often find myself doing...running to be with my Lord Jesus! I often cover many aspects of life on my blog, as it is my journal. I used to write things down in all sorts of notebooks, but my writings would soon be lost. So I decided that it was time to start a blog and share my thoughts and ideas with others. Many topics you will find here are prayers, homemaking and organization, children and pregnancy, funny stories, and the challenges of parenting and motherhood. If you enjoy my blog and leave me a comment, you are likely to have me visit! I love meeting others and gleaning from the lives of others. May you be blessed! Your friend in Christ, Heather

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Anger...

A few weeks back I read an article that dealt with anger. It really spoke to me and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

It was called Holes in the Fence. I am going to paraphrase it as best as I remember.

Once there was a boy who struggled greatly with anger. He would get angry at the smallest things, so one day he spoke with his dad about it. His dad pointed him to the fence in the back yard. He told his son that every time he got angry to drive a nail into the fence in the back yard. So that's what the boy did.

Well, the first day the boy drove 36 nails into the fence! It was hard work driving those nails in the fence! However, each day the number of nails that he drove in the fence decreased until one day he didn't need to drive any nails into the fences anymore. He had finally learned to control his anger.

He went and told his dad the news. The news pleased his father, but he wasn't done. He told his son that each day he was able to control his anger to go an pull out a few nails. Pulling out the nails was difficult as well, but eventually the boy pulled them all out of the fence.

As the boy looked at the fence after he had pulled out the last nail he noticed that the fence did not look the same. He went to his dad again somewhat disheartened by the appearance of the fence. And his dad told him this...

The fence will never be the same again, and the same goes for the people you hurt when you were angry. The holes symbolize the hurt you caused others each time that you got angry, they will never be the same again. You can ask their forgiveness and they will probably forgive you, but you cannot change the number of times that you got angry with them and hurt them. The scar remains the same.

So the moral of the story...

Think before you speak. A hurtful word can pierce like a knife and cause a grievous wound. Angry actions or words can and will affect the relationships that we have with others.


Some Scriptures that apply:

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

Proverbs 16:32 "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

Ecclesiastes 7:9 "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools."

Ephesians 4:31-32
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

Colossians 3:8 "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Colossians 3:21 "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged."

Blessings!
Heather

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have dealt with anger all my life. Very good illustration you shared!