The Roots of Anger
"By Pride Comes Only Contention."
-Proverbs 13:10
I've learned that we, as humans are very prideful. We think the world revolves around us. When things don't go "our" way, we get anger. You know why? Because of pride. Proverbs 13:10 is a great scripture for those who believe and follow God and the teachings of Christ, and those who do not believe. It's a great lesson or teaching, because it is TRUE.
Some may say "I'm not prideful, in fact, I think very little of myself." Well, I hate to burst your big glowing bubble of self-centeredness but that, my friend, is pride. It does not matter if you think you are better than others, or worse then others. You see, every stick has two sides. One side may be self-loving the other may be self-hating, but it is still the same stick.
By only worrying about ourselves do we let ourselves get in the way. You can't get angry without pride and you can't get pride with self-centeredness. If we would all take a day where we stopped worrying about "I" and worried more about God or others, life would have more value because if you only worry about "I", you will be a very unhappy person. I for one am shy, lack self-esteem, and have horrible people skills. I always worry what others will think about me. I am VERY prideful because of that. I know that may not make sense, so let me explain. When you constantly worry about what others will think of you, you become self-aware and self-centered. It's all about :"What will they think of me?" If I was not so worried about embarrassing myself in front of others I would do more things and have less to worry about. I would stop being so prideful.
You see, pride's evil little cousin is anger. We only become angry because of pride. When someone does something that you don't like and you get angry, that is pride. When someone says something bad about you and it offends you, that is pride. When you think you are better than others, that is pride. When you think you are worse than others, that is also pride.
I encourage both believers and non-believers to use this scripture in life. Pride only opens the door to the devil's corruption and surely he loves when we are angry.
Next time someone offends you, before you get angry, think about why they would say that instead of what did I do. If you learn to put others, and God before yourself, pride will leave you and God will greet you. Don't let one of the Devil's best kept secrets keep you spiritually crippled. Pride is not of God and surely very ungodly.