Living well

"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:26-32


Several decades ago, then President Reagan was shot one day and nearly died. While recovering in the hospital his daughter came to visit him. During their visit he told her - "You know, Patty, We have to forgive him ( the shooter )" - or so the story goes. President Reagan wasn't about to let hatred consume him.

Paul's words to the Ephesians centuries ago remind us of the need to forgive and put wrath and malice aside. Of the need to live well and let bitterness, wrath, and anger go. Get rid of the anger. Don't let anger, wrath and the thoughts of revenge consume you. Is it really worth it?

Take a few simple steps to protect your loved ones and your property. Take action on proactive measures to avoid the anger in the first place. The bad guys don't care if we forgive them or not. They don't care about our anger. And I doubt they are too concerned with revenge happpening to them.

All we can do is live well. Put anger aside. Take actions to avoid the potential criminals. Make a plan and then get to work on it. You can plan and implement a reasonable do it yourself home security system.

President Reagan had many smart people planning for him. And despite their well thought security measures he still got shot. Luckily he survived. The plans paid off. He was rushed to a hospital and given medical care within minutes. He forgave. And I'm sure he planned some more.

We might not be able to prevent every crime. And we can sure make it harder for the criminals to ruin our sense of security. Take the steps to protect yourself and your family. Hopefully you'll never need to forgive someone!

A very wise mentor once admonished us to remember - "Living well is the best revenge". Thank You Irene. I wonder if she had been reading Ephesians that day.