Love is not irritable
"Love is hard to offend and quick to forgive. But people who are irritable are locked, loaded and ready to overreact."1 I need to work on remaining calm and patient, showing mercy, and restraining my temper. I need to not be so overly sensitive and cranky exercising emotional self-control.
Irritability boils down to to two main reasons:stress and selfishness.
"Stress weighs you down, drains your energy, weakens your health and invites you to be cranky." Stress comes in three kinds: relational, excessive, and because of deficiency. Most often these are self-inflicted.
Ask yourself:
Are you frustrated due to arguing, division, or bitterness?
Are you overworked, overplaying, or overspending?
Are you not getting enough rest, nutrition, or exercise?
I need to work on releasing some of my stress in my life and that in my children as well as my husband. I feel this is the key to bringing forth more love in our household.
The other more deeper reason for irritability is Selfishness, "When you are irritable, the heart of the problem is primarily a problem of the heart."
Are you being selfish by lusting for what you do not have and being ungrateful for what you do have?"When your heart if lustful, it will become easily frustrated and angered (James 4:1-3) Are you bitter and responding in a judgmental way and refusing to work through your anger? "A bitter person's unresolved anger leaks out when he is provoked." (Ephesians 4:31) Are you being greedy? "Greed for more money and possessions will frustrate you with unfilled desires." (1st Timothy 6:9-10) Are you being prideful? "Pride leads to you acting harshly in order to protect your ego and reputation."
"When love enters your heart, it calms you down and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself. It loosens your grasp and helps you let go of unnecessary things...In each decision, love ultimately lowers your stress and helps you release the venom that can build up inside. It then sets up your heart to respond to your spouse with patience and encouragement rather than anger and exasperation."1
Irritability boils down to to two main reasons:stress and selfishness.
"Stress weighs you down, drains your energy, weakens your health and invites you to be cranky." Stress comes in three kinds: relational, excessive, and because of deficiency. Most often these are self-inflicted.
Ask yourself:
Are you frustrated due to arguing, division, or bitterness?
Are you overworked, overplaying, or overspending?
Are you not getting enough rest, nutrition, or exercise?
I need to work on releasing some of my stress in my life and that in my children as well as my husband. I feel this is the key to bringing forth more love in our household.
The other more deeper reason for irritability is Selfishness, "When you are irritable, the heart of the problem is primarily a problem of the heart."
Are you being selfish by lusting for what you do not have and being ungrateful for what you do have?"When your heart if lustful, it will become easily frustrated and angered (James 4:1-3) Are you bitter and responding in a judgmental way and refusing to work through your anger? "A bitter person's unresolved anger leaks out when he is provoked." (Ephesians 4:31) Are you being greedy? "Greed for more money and possessions will frustrate you with unfilled desires." (1st Timothy 6:9-10) Are you being prideful? "Pride leads to you acting harshly in order to protect your ego and reputation."
"When love enters your heart, it calms you down and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself. It loosens your grasp and helps you let go of unnecessary things...In each decision, love ultimately lowers your stress and helps you release the venom that can build up inside. It then sets up your heart to respond to your spouse with patience and encouragement rather than anger and exasperation."1
Challenge for today: Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.