Sept 22.98: Light For The Day - "Temper"

"Hot tempers cause arguments,
But patience bring peace."
-- Proverbs 15:18 (RSV)

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"You can't take back harsh words"

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father
gave him a bag of nails and told him that every
time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the
back fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the
fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He
discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to
drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his
temper at all. He told his father about it and the
father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail
for each day that he was able to hold his temper. 

The days passed and the young boy was finally
able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. 
The father took his son by the hand and led him to
the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son,
but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will
never be the same. When you say things in anger,
they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a
knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how
many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still
there.

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. 

-- Unknown (Sent by Bryan S. Dunn.)
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Self-control is superior to conquest. Success in
business, school, or home life can be ruined by a
person who has lost control of his or her temper. 

So it is a great personal victory to control your
temper. When you feel yourself ready to explode,
remember that losing control may cause you to
forfeit what you want the most.

-- Life Application Study Bible
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"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."
-- Proverbs 16:32 (RSV)