Second chances...

Sometimes I feel like I'm skating a razor's edge. "...don't go outside the lines, and when you do, that's it, it's too late, you blew it!" I really needed to hear this Our Daily Bread devotional post this morning, because yesterday I gave into old behavior habits of gossip, impatience, anger, selfishness, taking offense, and hatred because I allowed internal accusations against other people room in my head to fester and grow out of control. I remember an old teaching by Charles Stanley about controlling your anger and that we need to be especially vigilant when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely and Tired - HALT. that means I need to stop, remember verses like "A fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man stills" and "the wrath of man does not promote the righteousness God requires", and determine to LEAN on God for the strength to give Him the things I am struggling with and not give in to the temptation to "get it off my chest" with someone else. I confess I did not exercise the things God put in my heart: patience, joy, love, peace, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, or self control. Because of that I poisoned other people with my attitudes. I'm sorry I shared something I should have just laid at the foot of the cross and walked calmly away from. I am grateful I'm forgiven and cleansed from this. And that I have fresh opportunities to exercise those valuable attributes again today. LORD help me - correct these things and purge them from my heart! If you need help with this today too, check out today's Our Daily Bread: ourdailybread.org for August 18, 2018 and be greatly encouraged: our God is a God of second chances - millions of them! "His mercies are new every morning"!