Good morning,

Our devotion for today comes from Ephesians 4:26 TLB "If you are angry, don't sin by nursing your grudge.  Don't let the sun go down with you still angry get over it quickly." 

Wherever you are today, meditate on this; anger is destructive.  Physicians know it.  Marriage counselors know it.  Law enforcement officers know it.  Anger can cause ulcers, migranes, and heart attacks.  It can destroy marriages and relationships.  Our prisons are full of angry men and women who had to have the last word and resorted to violence.
    

That's why God warned us not to hold grudges. Even when you suffer in silence and turn a cold shoulder to a neighbor, a coworker, or spouse, the anger eats at you like a cancer.  It's insatiable.  It needs regular feedings of hatred and bitterness emotions that are the antithesis of God's lovingkindness. 

It's for our own good that God asks us to treat one another with love, honor, and respect.  He knows we're going to get angry sometimes, but He has given us self control through the power of the Holy Spirit and those beautiful words, "I'm sorry."
    

Are you angry?  Do you resent the way you've been treated by others?  Let it go.  You'll never be able to look forward to those things God has for you if you're always looking at the past. 

Or have you hurt someone else?  Apologize and go on with your life.  They may not forgive you, but God will.  Pray about those bridges you know need building, and ask God to help you build a few today. 

Have a blessed bridge building day!

Your brother in Christ,

J. H. Flakes, III