The short-tempered fool

I’ve worked in several roles over my career, a number of them within the same organization.  I love my job and I love doing it well, but it is astonishing how, every time I change role, I look back and marvel at how much I didn’t know, or even how misguided I was in my previous role.  I’m always thankful to have had the chance to see things from these different perspectives – not everyone has the chance to play both sides, change teams and often even be the referee… and then switch back with the benefit of that experience.  The key thing I have learned from these experiences is humility – recognizing that I may not have all the information, or that someone else may have a better idea.

But lately, I’ve been getting rather impatient.  Sometimes at work, with people who I think could put in more thought and effort, or when I simply think I know better.  Often at home, when I get frustrated with the kids for not understanding when I’m trying to teach them to do their homework.  I was just about to blow up in the afternoon, having called a meeting to give a piece of my mind.  Thankfully, God intervened.  It was my weekly lunch prayer and fast slot, and I sat down to read Proverbs, which is where I happened to be in my Bible reading.

The first thing I read hit me between the eyes.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.  Pro 15:1-2

Oh dear.  Guess I better tone down the “angry” for the meeting.  But God wasn’t done with His rebuke.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.  Pro 16:18

Who did I think I was, that I could get impatient with my colleagues?  I had simply forgotten the lesson of humility that God had been drumming into me all these past years.

The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.  Pro 17:27

Even if I did happen to know better than them (which might not be, I could very well be wrong), God’s instruction was to act with restraint and an even temper.

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pro 18:2
To answer before listening – that is folly and shame. Pro 18:13

In fact, God quite plainly said that I would be a fool if I did not wait to listen and understand first.

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.  Pro 19:20

Thank you God for your discipline, and for reminding me not to be a short-tempered fool!  May He bless you too with a gentle spirit in all you do at home and at work.

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