When My Brother or Sister Makes Me Angry

Devotional

The door slams hard enough that something rattles on the wall.

Now you're in your room with your arms crossed and your heart going fast.

He took your thing again. Or she said the one sentence that gets you every time. Or honestly it was something small, a look, a voice, getting interrupted for about the ninth time today.

Living with a brother or sister means living with somebody who knows exactly where your buttons are. And knows how hard to push.

Now, being angry isn't always wrong. If somebody breaks your stuff, being upset makes sense. God gave you feelings on purpose.

The question is what you do with it. Because anger is like fire. Fire can cook your dinner or it can burn the house down.

Here's what the Bible says for this exact moment:

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

That might be the last thing you want to hear right now. But look at what it's actually telling you.

Whatever you say next is either water or gasoline.

A harsh word guarantees this gets bigger. A soft one can change the whole direction.

And you might be thinking: I can't do that. I'm too mad.

You might be right. On your own, probably not.

But God doesn't expect you to make patience out of nothing. The Bible calls it fruit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

Fruit doesn't show up overnight. An apple tree takes years before it makes one apple. The patience you need for your brother is something God is growing in you, slowly, and it's okay that it's not finished.

And there's one more honest thing in here I don't want you to miss.

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."

If possible. So far as it depends on you.

The Bible knows the other person might not cooperate. You're not in charge of your sister's choices. You're in charge of yours.

And here's what makes it possible at all.

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."

Notice what comes first. Before he tells you what to do, he tells you who you are. Chosen. Loved.

You can be kind to somebody who doesn't deserve it right now, because Jesus was kind to you when you didn't either.

That doesn't mean you pretend nothing happened. You can say what hurt. You can go get a parent. That's allowed.

You can just do it without saying the meanest thing you can think of.

So next time, before you open your mouth, take one breath.

Remember God is patient with you every single day.

Then try the soft answer.

It might not fix everything. But it keeps the fire from spreading.