Proverbs 19:11:Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, And it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment].
One of the common experiences of people have is that of being offended. Whether its due to other people’s mistakes, bad attitudes, stupidity, malice, forgetfulness, selfishness or just
circumstances, we will be offended by others, not just one time, but throughout our lives. The key question is, “How will you respond?”.
If you follow the direction of our society and your natural inclinations, your mindset would be: “Don’t offend me under any conditions. If you do, I will react strongly against you.” It’s like we wear our feelings on our sleeves and if someone just happens to brush up against us, intentionally or not, we react like that’s the worse thing in life that can happen. Our reaction escalates the situation to a higher level. If the offender reacts in a similar way, the situation can easily get out of control and end in unnecessary chaos…hurt feelings, damaged relationships, physical, mental or emotional harm, even death.
The word “slow” means to delay, prolong or to defer. Proverbs teaches us it is wise to be slow to anger. Why? Often we don’t know all the details of a situation; we have a tendency to make assumptions and treat them as facts. Sometimes we tend to “live in our anger”. We react out of our hurt. We let our feelings dominate us, instead of exercising control over our feelings. Most importantly, we forget/ignore our offences against the Lord. Jesus told us that if we didn’t forgive others, the Father would not forgive us (Matthew 6:15).
Have you been “quick” to anger and caused some unnecessary chaos in your life? Have
relationships you’ve valued been irreparably damaged due to your unforgiveness? Are you
currently dealing with consequences of a “quick, hot tempered” reaction? God provided a way to avoid unnecessary chaos in your life; its through forgiveness and a “slow” response to offenses. Following this process will lead to others boasting about you as opposed to avoiding you.