learning to breathe

       Something happened over the past couple years that left me feeling a level of anger that I had never felt before. By the world’s standards letting my anger turn to bitterness, taking revenge or hoping that they suffer in some way would be justified. Yet, God calls us to live differently. God calls my heart to not let the anger fester.  It’s not a said and done thing though to be honest. It’s a moment by moment thing. You see thinking about the unjustness of a situation and feeling like I’m the one actually picking up all the pieces from it even though I didn’t cause a majority of it or the worst of it, can cause my blood to boil. It can lead me to even speak the sentence: “I hate ___”. Then I catch myself and remind myself how strong of a word “hate” is.  In 1 John 2:9-11 and Ephesians 4:31, we are told to not have hatred toward others or let bitterness grow in our hearts. I must admit that when I would let those feelings boil and take over, it rea...