Ecclesiastes 7:9

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools ~ Ecclesiastes 7:9

A wise person, may, when they allow, or when their guard is down, feel anger, but he will not rest in it. The flame of anger is soon put under control, and anger is cast away, and peace resumes. The flip side is the foolish person who is controlled by their own tempers. He will brood in his anger until it takes on the form of malice and revenge. Whether you are in fact an “enemy” does not matter, for he sees you as one, and he acts upon that image. Some of us have upbringings that cause us to react quickly to any sense of threat. But, what is best is to put the past behind, and whether that is distant past, or an hour ago, the best form of action is to take a deep breath and slow down. Pride is our worst enemy, and often our pride can raise our thoughts to passionate excitement. We want to act out to prove our worth, or prove we were right, or, just to get things “back under our control.” Our anger rises up, and what happens is we just prove our foolishness. When we act rashly many extra troubles come upon us, and our mischief loudly announces itself to those around us. There is an old saying, “Truth hurts.” It may, and it may cause offense, but even our enemy can tell us something that is good for us to know. How will we react is the question…ponder what is said, but not in the way to enact revenge, but to consider if the reproof is wholesome or not. If we slow down and think through words and emotions, we will grow spiritually, and emotionally. Rashness is not courage; rash anger is hurtful and damaging.