“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” Proverbs 14:27
Losing your pride is a learned virtue. Killing your ego takes practice. As my dad told me to bury a dead rattlesnake’s head because its fangs still hold poison, I find pride often trying to bite me after I think I have it pinned down.
At work, it’s the daily irritants. On the road, it’s the crazy drivers. To my spouse, it’s the terse response. With my kids, it’s the preventable accident. All knock off the spinning plate of the expected, comfortable, and unquestioned life I have going at the moment. I scream and shout, try to impose my will, all because I am the god of my life.
It’s not worth it. The battle has been won. Christ died so that we don’t have to. We die to Christ so that we don’t have to build castles of sand here on earth. Our desire to be respected and have meaning can lead us to destruction if unchecked. When we seek Christ and only hope to honor him, we stop worrying about how we feel or how we look.
For me, I know this in my mind, if not my heart. But many of our neighbors do not know that Christ died for them. They think they have to settle scores and disrespect with gun shots. They live and die by fear. It’s tragic and the trauma lives on for generations.
Tonight, we lift up those groups in Memphis seeking to stop violence, the end result of our anger and trying to impose our will over another individual. We pray for the Family Safety Center working to prevent domestic violence and care for victims. We pray for the work of Whole Child Strategies in the community. We pray for those organizations providing resources to the stressed and beaten down, like MIFA and Agape. We pray for the loving neighbors that live in these violent communities that they be protected and encouraged. We pray for Klondike-Smoky City, Westwood, Whitehaven, Binghampton, North Memphis, Hickory Hill, and other neighborhoods where too often violence is a way of life. We pray for peace in our city and our streets. We pray for a change of heart and the Holy Spirit to be present in our communities. We pray for the souls of the 341 murdered in Memphis in 2021, the too many so far in 2022, and for the violence to end now.
Lord, we pray for our own anger. We pray that You grant us patience and rest. We pray you focus us on the cross and what your death and resurrection means for us. Lord, we pray that we can align ourselves with the Holy Spirit, that You may live in us.
Father, our words may fail us, our actions may deceive us, but You never will. Give us the strength, power, and love to let go of our pride. In Your name, amen.