"Still Learning"

By: Zach Wood

Psalm 145:21, Ephesians 4:29

(Psalm) My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.  Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

(Ephesians) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

 

 

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever learn to think before I do.  After this past week, I have learned a great deal about myself and how much more I need to change with my reactions and words to other people.  Early last week, I "snapped" at someone at my work place.  She can be frustrating at times and I just let my words out before I had control of them.  I wound up making a coworker very angry with me not only by saying what I said, but by quietly whispering to another coworker close by about it.  That was just enough to make her even more angry.  One of my managers had a gentle talk with me and I was frustrated.  However, I found myself feeling horrible only a few moments later and I knew I had really messed up!  I thought to myself, "What am I doing?"  I went back and apologized to the lady I had snapped to and she told me she was very angry with me and needed to cool down.  I left her alone and went about my work.  My manager told me he appreciated me apologizing to her.  However, I felt horrible the rest of the day. 

 

As the title goes, I'm still learning.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever going to learn how to think about my words before I let them go.  I wonder if I'll let God control the tone of voice before I speak to someone.  I know I'm human, but it bothers me.  And....it should!  I made a mistake and now I realize how much I need to work on my reactions.  I shared with my wife for several days last week how awful I felt for losing my temper with my coworker.  A beast, if you would, came out of me for a few moments and I became someone I'm usually not.  I'm still learning. 

 

As I read this passage in Psalm, my heart crushed because I know that my mouth should be speaking in love and praise of God, not snapping at my coworker.  I should be using my attitude and words to life God's Name above all names!  After I read this passage in Psalm, I immediately thought of the passage in Ephesians.  Well, I failed that test!  I am only to use words that encourage others and build them up.  But, that clearly did not happen.  I'm just thankful that forgiveness is an option people take and they don't think terrible of who I am.  I remember the words of my manager, "Don't worry, Zach.  I don't think you're a bad guy."  Those words meant a lot to me!  I appreciated them. 

 

When we mess up, God thinks the same about us.  He doesn't look down upon us as evil little beings.  He continues to love us and lavish His blessings upon us.  I don't understand why, but He does.  When we mess up with our words and tempers, God picks us up and says, "Let's give this another try, shall we?"  What an awesome God He is to have so much love for us to give us more chances.  That's truly a God of Love, amen?

 

Through my confession, I pray that each of you might think of a situation lately where you've messed up by losing your temper toward someone.  Whether at work, home, church, or out somewhere else.  It's good for us to realize that we've messed up and to feel bad about it.  That's how we should feel.  However, don't beat yourself up over the situation.  Continue on living and make it a point to think before you do or say things.  It's something we all need to work on.  I know I've learned, but I need to be stronger next time I'm tempted to lose my temper.  We all deal with unfortunate situations like these in life.  Let's learn and encourage one another.