“Who left the bats out again?! Why does she never clean the dugout!?” Before I knew Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I thought these things as a softball player often. I “tolerated” some things at practice or in the locker room, but there were a lot of times where I gave in to frustration because of the actions of others.
By definition, irritable people are ones that allow themselves to get upset at the actions of others. They aren’t forced to but allow themselves to be upset. Whether it’s your players not getting a drill correct, a teammate that consistently has a bad attitude, or getting cut off in traffic, we all are faced with the temptation to allow ourselves to be irritated with the actions of others.
But if anybody had a justifier for being irritable constantly, it was Jesus. Over and over again, the Pharisees criticized Him, and the people He came to save mocked Him and wanted a different kind of “King.” Instead of giving into irritability, Jesus chose self-control, patience, and kindness.
Once I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior, everything changed for me–my thoughts, my actions, my entire life! One thing I realized was that the closer I grew to Him, the less irritable I became and the less I thought negative thoughts like I used to! Why? Because God taught me that I couldn’t always choose my circumstances, but I could always choose my response; God taught me that I was called to choose to respond to others as Jesus would! If we want to truly love like Jesus in every way, we have surrender our irritability to God, even in the most frustrating circumstances, and ask Him for self-control to show others His love through our patience and kindness.
