Anger Management

I started thinking more about all the HEATED debates taking place all over our country, especially about health care reform, but about other stuff too. Debates and arguments that can turn pretty nasty in town hall meetings, on the street, on cable news channels and especially in the halls of our government buildings. The things that some people say about our government and each other really astound me in this "Christian" nation of ours. We only seem to be Christian until our wallets come into play and then all the gloves come off. We don't decide to change anything about our lives until money becomes involved. Do you remember when gas prices were up to $5 a gallon? Before that people were scrambling like hungry animals to buy SUV's, but when fuel prices skyrocketed people were scrambling trying to sell their SUV's. Suddenly people were buying small cars. Suddenly the auto industry was finally making more fuel efficient cars. It was money that did it or, at least, the fear of losing it.

Now it's health care. People are angry. Maybe now that there is fear of our government controlling health care we will start taking better care of our bodies to keep from having to go to the doctor as much, to keep from buying expensive drugs. Maybe we could actually make it more expensive to buy fast food and less expensive to buy fruits and vegetables. We believe that our party's politicians have our best interests in mind. But they seem to be too busy spending our money on plane tickets to see their mistresses.

I thought about our government and I thought about us, the citizens of this great country and came across a couple of pieces of scripture that we should reflect on from time to time. It couldn't hurt and it would probably help a little with our anger management.

Romans 13:1-2 "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."

James 4:1-3 (this goes for our politicians, too) "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures..." (keep reading through verse 12 if you want)