Temper your temper

Think a minute…There’s a story about a little boy who had a bad temper. 

His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he got angry and lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence. 

The first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into the fence! But over the next few weeks, as the boy was learning to control his temper, the number of nails he hammered each day gradually became fewer. Soon the boy discovered that it was easier to hold his temper than hammer nails into the fence. 

Finally the day came, when the boy did not lose his temper one time. 

He went to his father and proudly told him that he’d finally learned to control his anger. 

His father was very pleased. Then he told his son to go back to the fence and start pulling out one nail each day that he continued controlling his temper. 

Many days later the boy was so proud of himself the day he announced to his father that he had finally been able to pull out all the nails in the fence.

His dad said:  “Son, you’ve done so well in learning to control your anger. 

I’m very proud of you. But now look at all the holes in the fence from your nails. This fence will never be the same! It’s like that when you get angry and say hurtful things to people. 

Your angry words leave scars  just like the holes from these nails. Afterwards it doesn’t matter how many times you say ‘I’m sorry,’ that wound and scar you made in people’s hearts is still there.”

Sometimes the hurts and wounds we make with our angry words are the worst kind. Yes, we should always apologize and tell others we’re sorry when we hurt them. 

But our families and friends would be much happier if we simply learned to control our anger in the first place. Think how much more peaceful and happy our life would be.

So if you have trouble controlling your anger, you can give your heart to Jesus Christ today. 

It’s with His help and power you can start changing. 

You might start with small steps and control your temper one hour at a time. But the most important step is the first one. So why not take it now?  

Just Think a Minute…

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