p. 17 | When Irritated

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 28, 1911

When Irritated

No good is ever likely to come from our speaking to any one at a time when we feel irritated against that one. That is the one time when our impulses, our thoughts, our feelings, are utterly untrustworthy, and, if expressed, are sure to do more harm than good. It matters not that we have, or think we have, abundant cause for irritation, or that the other person may be “all wrong.” This is only additional reason why we should be “all right” before we attempt to deal with the case; and the very fact that we feel irritated is evidence that we are by no means all right. The only safe thing to do when the strong feeling of irritation sweeps over us is to say little or nothing, go away by ourselves, and confess to the Saviour our very feeling as evidence of our sin and lack of love, ask him to purge us of it, and to replace it with his own invincible, irresistible love, and then think with concentration of the things that are lovely and admirable in the one against whom we were irritated. After this, and not before, it may be safe for us to talk with that one again.—Sunday School Times.