Tony Campolo died last Tuesday. The Christianity Today obit starts this way:

Tony Campolo frequently started his speeches to Christian audiences by telling them three things.

First, he would tell them how many children had died from hunger or malnutrition-related diseases the night before—a number in the tens of thousands.

And Campolo would say, “Most of you don’t give a s—.”

Then: “What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said ‘s—’ than the fact that thousands of kids died last night.”

Campolo, a progressive Christian leader who courted controversy challenging evangelicals to see caring for the poor as an integral part of proclaiming the gospel, died on Tuesday. He was 89. – Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today, November 19, 2024 (The article is worth the read in its entirety.)

Some of us strait-laced, get-your-theology-right evangelicals didn’t agree with everything he said, but it’s hard to argue with what he did. He reminded us that Jesus’ ministry was to the poor.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4.16 – 21, NIV)

After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matthew 11.1 – 5, NIV)

If you’re not familiar with Tony (“Dr. Campolo, professor of Sociology at Eastern University”), or even if you are, this story of his organizing a birthday party for a prostitute is worth the 8 minutes:

He closes with this line:

We’ve got to do more than give them bread and clothes. We’ve got to bring love and joy into their lives. – Tony Campolo

It goes back to “A Taco Not a Talk,” from November 10. It’s not our good words, but our love and good works that make a difference for others. Tony kept reminding us of that. Thank you, my brother.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.16, ESV)

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25.34 – 40, ESV)

Yesterday, we looked at Ezra’s lifestyle of Study, Do, Teach. Some people balk at the “teach” part. “I’m just not a teacher.” But the answer to that is, “Sure you are.” Teaching is the natural result of growth.

Check out this section of a Sahil Bloom blog, The Three Stages of Life:

Last week, I had a conversation with entrepreneur and investor Chris Vasquez, who shared an interesting idea related to professional progression.

He believes that there are three stages of your professional arc:

1. Get Fed: You receive opportunities to execute on.
2. Feed Yourself: You create and execute on opportunities for yourself.
3. Feed Others: You create opportunities for others to execute on.

Early in your professional career, you rely on others to give you the opportunities. You don’t know what they look like yet, and you certainly don’t know how to create them, so this is a necessary first step in building your foundation.

As you progress, you are able to create the opportunities for yourself. You’ve developed an understanding of “the game” and are able to see the patterns that allow you to win.

In the final stage, your focus shifts to creating opportunities for others. You get the most leverage by feeding others with these opportunities, rather than trying to execute on all of them yourself, which would be impossible given the sheer number that come to you at this level of mastery.

I believe the same holds true for your life outside of work:

1. You learn the game.
2. You master the game.
3. You coach the game.

The third step is important, because not only does it provide leverage, but also the lasting fulfillment and happiness derived from acting in the service of others.

Get fed. Feed yourself. Feed others.

Learn the game. Master the game. Coach the game. – Sahil Bloom, November 15, 2024

Sounds like Study, Do, Teach to me!

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2.12 – 14 , ESV) – children need to be fed, young men feed themselves, fathers feed others.

We’re in the book of Ezra, which has only 10 chapters. The mission in the book was to rebuild the Temple, and they finished it, as recorded in Ezra 6. Finally, in chapter 7, we meet Ezra for the first time:

After all this, Ezra. It was during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, …, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the high priest. That’s Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the GOD of Israel had given. (Ezra 7.1 – 5, MSG)

Before this reading, knowing the Temple reconstruction had started and been delayed, I thought that the revived construction occurred because of Ezra. Nope. He came after. But I really like what the text says about him:

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. (Ezra 7.10, ESV)

It’s one of my life verses, and the message is clear:

Study, do, teach

Study

We wrote yesterday about the importance of the written word. There’s no reason today why every believer, especially in the US, shouldn’t be competent in studying the Word. The translations are there. The tools are there. I repeatedly urge everyone I’m around to have Daily Time with God, a major component of which is the Word.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15.16, ESV)

Do

But it’s not enough to study the Word. Some people like to do that, searching for the great truths of the Faith. I’ve visited and participated in more men’s Bible studies than I can count, and I can tell in less than a minute if I’m around “study and do” people or just “study” people. Jesus was clear: you must put the Word into practice:

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. (Matthew 7.26, MSG)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

Teach

Study and do is good, but study, do, teach is better. But Bob, Ezra was a priest. I’m just a layperson. Nope:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2.9, NIV, emphasis mine)

If you’re a believer, you’re a priest, and priests teach:

For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 2.7, ESV)

I love this specific commission in Ezra 7:

…Anyone who does not know the Teaching, you teach them. (Ezra 7.25, MSG)

Sorry. This one went a little long, but I hope you’re inspired to imitate Ezra. Go forth to…

Study, do, teach

This is not an impractical or impossible suggestion. I saw the same message in a secular source. Stay tuned.

We noted yesterday that Ezra 5 and 6 records the Jews finishing rebuilding the Temple after chapter 4’s pause. The one thing that got them restarted was the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. But what kept them going in the face of the same old chapter 4-type opposition?

Tattenai was governor of the land beyond the Euphrates at this time. Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates came to the Israelites and asked, “Who issued you a permit to rebuild this Temple and restore it to use?” (Ezra 5.3, 4, MSG)

It was a question, and this time, the builders had a specific answer: “King Cyrus did! Look it up.”

But when Cyrus became king of Babylon, in his first year he issued a building permit to rebuild this Temple of God…So now, if it please the king, look up the records in the royal archives in Babylon and see if it is indeed a fact that Cyrus the king issued an official building permit authorizing the rebuilding of The Temple of God in Jerusalem. And then send the king’s ruling on this matter to us. (Ezra 5.13, 17, MSG)

From 1984 – 1986, I worked for Col Jack Flannery at Space Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs. He became a good friend after his retirement, and we were neighbors. Jack always told us, “You have to institutionalize agreements.” I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t like bureaucracy all that much, and I liked to work with folks in other departments over a handshake. Jack always said that was a fine way to get started, but if you wanted it to last, you had to get a formal agreement in writing (“institutionalize it”). “None of us will be here in a few years. Then what keeps things going?”

Well, such was the attitude of the kings of Persia, and later the Medes. Document your decisions.

So King Darius ordered a search through the records in the archives in Babylon. Eventually a scroll was turned up in the fortress of Ecbatana over in the province of Media, with this writing on it: Memorandum In his first year as king, Cyrus issued an official decree regarding The Temple of God in Jerusalem, as follows: The Temple where sacrifices are offered is to be rebuilt on new foundations. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide… (Ezra 6.1 – 3, MSG)

Darius told those who wanted the Jews to quit building:

Now listen, Tattenai governor of the land beyond the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, associates, and all officials of that land: Stay out of their way. Leave the governor and leaders of the Jews alone so they can work on that Temple of God as they rebuild it. (Ezra 6.6, 7, MSG)

Done. And they finished the work:

So the leaders of the Jews continued to build; the work went well under the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They completed the rebuilding under orders of the God of Israel and authorization by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. (Ezra 6.14, 15, MSG)

All because of the written word. I’m glad that God has left us his written word! We don’t always agree on what it means, but we have it. Something to give thanks for.

Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. (Psalm 119.89, ESV)

And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 4.32, ESV)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3.16, 17, NIV)

After a good start in Ezra 3, and a pause in Ezra 4, they finish, chop-chop, in Ezra 5 and 6. Why? It took a prophet to get them in gear:

Meanwhile the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo were preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the authority of the God of Israel who ruled them. And so Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak started again, rebuilding The Temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were right there helping them. (Ezra 5.1, 2, MSG)

“But I thought the prophets’ job was to foretell the future!” Nope. Their primary job is to get people in gear today:

On the first day of the sixth month of the second year in the reign of King Darius of Persia, GOD’s Message was delivered by the prophet Haggai to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak: A Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of GOD.” Shortly after that, GOD said more and Haggai spoke it: “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, GOD’s Temple, is in ruins?”

…Then GOD said: “Here’s what I want you to do: Climb into the hills and cut some timber. Bring it down and rebuild the Temple. Do it just for me. Honor me. You’ve had great ambitions for yourselves, but nothing has come of it. The little you have brought to my Temple I’ve blown away—there was nothing to it. “And why?” (This is a Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, remember.) “Because while you’ve run around, caught up with taking care of your own houses, my Home is in ruins. (Haggai 1.1 – 4, 8, 9, MSG)

Oops. The people had their priorities mixed up. I’ve written about Haggai’s challenge before.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1.9 – 11, ESV, emphasis mine)

We observed yesterday from Ezra 4 that a good start doesn’t always guarantee a good or prompt finish. At the time I was reading Ezra 3 and 4, I was reading my friend Mike Metzger’s blog on “justification,” A Lesson from Lego. You may or may not be able to read the whole article, but here’s the gist:

Jesus said: “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt.10:22). What? We must endure to the end to be saved? I thought salvation is by faith alone. I was taught that salvation, or what is called justification, is only remission of sins.

We are saved by faith alone. But as the Book of James notes, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:17). We’re saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. It requires endurance, a point on which most Christian traditions, if not all, agree.

Most traditions also agree on how, at the beginning of the Christian life, God forgives our sins and gives us the gift of righteousness. But he’s not done with us. He wants us to grow in righteousness over the course of the Christian life. If we cooperate with his grace, we will.

In some traditions, the process of growth in righteousness is called sanctification. Justification in those traditions is the first step. But in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, justification is not just the first step. It’s the whole process of salvation. It isn’t something that happens just at the beginning of the Christian life. It happens over the course of the Christian life. – Mike Metzger, emphases his

It’s a weighty discussion, often hotly debated among theologians, and we won’t take on that debate here. But there’s something compelling about a “one-step” approach rather than, as is common in my tradition, a “two-step” approach. We say, “OK, now that you’re saved (justified), you need to think about discipleship, or “sanctification.” To which the response is sometimes, “Why? I prayed the prayer, and I attend church fairly regularly. What more do you want?”

So we get a good start, but we don’t always get a good finish – that’s the connection to Ezra 3 and 4. In fact, we celebrate good starts as they did in Ezra 3. “Got ’em saved; got ’em baptized. Whoopee!” But we have no mechanism that I’ve seen for celebrating even progress, much less a finish.

Something worth pondering. The Apostle Paul’s goal was way more than a good start:

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1.9 – 11, ESV)

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. (Philippians 1.27, ESV)

For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2.11, 12, ESV)

The rebuilding of the Temple began with great fanfare in Ezra 3, but it quickly ground to a halt. First, their enemies say they want to help:

Old enemies of Judah and Ben-jamin heard that the exiles were building The Temple of the GOD of Israel. They came to Zerubbabel and the family heads and said, “We’ll help you build. We worship your God the same as you. We’ve been offering sacrifices to him since Esar-haddon king of Assyria brought us here.”

Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the family heads of Israel said to them, “Nothing doing. Building The Temple of our God is not the same thing to you as to us. We alone will build for the GOD of Israel. We’re the ones King Cyrus of Persia commanded to do it.” (Ezra 4.1 – 3, MSG)

Why were they refused? After all, “We worship your God the same as you.” Not quite. Please review the blog “They Worshipped God BUT…”

They honored and worshiped GOD, but they also kept up their devotions to the old gods of the places they had come from. (2 Kings 29.33, MSG)

So…

…these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built…In fact, in the reign of Xerxes, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against those living in Judah and Jerusalem. (Ezra 4.4, 6, MSG)

Later, they wrote another letter to King Artaxerxes who responded:

Peace be with you. The letter that you sent has been translated and read to me. I gave orders to search the records, and sure enough it turns out that this city has revolted against kings time and again—rebellion is an old story there. I find that they’ve had their share of strong kings who have taken over beyond the Euphrates and exacted taxes, tribute, and duty. So do this: Order these men to stop work immediately—not a lick of rebuilding in that city unless I order it. Act quickly and firmly; they’ve done enough damage to kings! (Ezra 4.18 – 22, MSG)

And chapter 4 ends:

That put a stop to the work on The Temple of God in Jerusalem. Nothing more was done until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. (Ezra 4.24, MSG)

Starting is easy. Finishing, especially in the face of opposition, is hard. I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12.1 – 3, MSG, emphases mine)

Back to Ezra, recall that the goal is to rebuild the Temple. We saw in chapters 1 and 2 that they have the support of King Cyrus, 42,000+ people, and A LOT of materials.

The foundation is laid 13 months after their arrival:

In the second month of the second year after their arrival at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, in company with their brother priests and Levites and everyone else who had come back to Jerusalem from captivity, got started…When the workers laid the foundation of The Temple of GOD, the priests in their robes stood up with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise GOD in the tradition of David king of Israel. They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to GOD: Yes! GOD is good! Oh yes—he’ll never quit loving Israel! All the people boomed out hurrahs, praising GOD as the foundation of The Temple of GOD was laid. (Ezra 3.8 – 11, MSG, emphases mine)

Then something interesting:

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3.12, 13, ESV)

It’s not clear to me why there was weeping. Maybe they wept for joy, but that’s not what it says. I’m thinking they might have been weeping because the old men knew this Temple would not be as grand as the first one.

Nicole Massie Martin, who works for Christianity Today suggests that this gathering of people, some weeping, some shouting for joy, is a model for how we should respond to the election. She writes in part:

This brief note [from Ezra 3.12, 13] about the mixture of triumph and despair is important because it reminds us that regardless of how they felt, the people remained together. Their covenant with God required that they learn to work together amid their differences, not simply for the sake of unity among themselves but for unity against outside adversaries. This passage should remind us that we too have a need for national unity amid our differences, that unity is necessary to preserve our freedom and democracy.

And while they differed in weeping and rejoicing, the crowd in Ezra 3 was united in praise and trust of God. “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever,” they sang together (v. 11). American Christians of all political affiliations must keep this higher truth in mind in the weeks ahead. 

For those of us who are unhappy with this result, let me encourage you not to despair. I am praying for you, and I hope you will pray for me—and for our next president “and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:2). Regardless of who leads our nation, we can seek God’s wisdom for how we can continue to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” even when we feel we are in exile (Jer. 29:7).

For those who are happy with the outcome, let Ezra’s story remind you to be firm in your demands of accountability and justice from the administration you elected. Remember that your earthly allegiances must never supersede your faithfulness to God. And remember to pray for our next president, his cabinet, our nation, ourselves, and your fellow Christians who are worried about what comes next.

This week, I will take time to mourn with my daughters in what feels to me like a true loss. But I will do so alongside my neighbors and many Christian brothers and sisters who are reassured or outright joyful that President-elect Trump won. And I will praise God alongside them, too, for he is still good, and his love still endures forever. – God is Faithful in Triumph and Despair, November 7, 2024

A good word.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12.15, ESV)

Here’s a feel-good story about two Christian students at Stanford University. It starts:

Hadassah Betapudi and Elijah Kim met at a Christian fellowship at Stanford in 2022 and got to know each other by leading a Bible study together. Soon the duo—with their backgrounds in data organizing and computer science—was building an artificial intelligence startup.

The two sought to solve a problem: They had heard from students needing a lot of guidance on the essay-writing part of college applications. That mentoring wasn’t available to many because of their financial or cultural backgrounds.

So they built an AI (artificial intelligence) – based app that helps kids write their college application essays. It doesn’t write the essay for them, but it gives them specific, high-quality feedback. As expected they recognized the need from their own experience:

Neither Betapudi nor Kim felt that they had entered the application process with a lot of guidance themselves; Betapudi was the first in her family to go to college in the US, and Kim was homeschooled his whole life before college.

“Applying to college was a little scary because I lacked a lot of the insight and guidance that I think a lot of students take for granted,” said Betapudi, who was born in Memphis to Indian immigrant parents. “It’s not just about your test scores or your GPA but about presenting who you are holistically to a college admissions committee, which is very different than the way things are done in India.”

This year the duo launched their startup: an AI tool that provides college admissions essay feedback. The founders see it as more like a guidance counselor and editor, not a content producer like ChatGPT. It doesn’t write essays for students.

And the good news is, they see their tool as a ministry to the poor:

Nguyen grew up in a low-income family. Most students can pay a monthly fee to use the tool, but Betapudi and Kim have enough paying customers to be able to give Esslo access to high schoolers who meet certain financial criteria, like being on free or reduced lunch or being at a Title I school.

“It levels out the playing field, especially since I can’t afford private counselors or special programs,” Nguyen said. “Esslo is a really good example of using AI to the benefit of a lot of people, especially underrepresented and underprivileged people and communities.“

“The truly dystopian outcome of introducing AI into education or into the world is that these oppressive regimes or governments will have access or will develop better AI than the good guys—those who fight for the widow, the orphan, the poor, or the lame,” Betapudi said. “I have been gifted through grace the ability to go to Stanford. … As a believer, my charge is then to build tools that not just benefit the top richest 1 percent who is already using this sort of thing but making it equitable and making it easy to access.”

The article is worth the read in its entirety. When a Stanford Bible Study Led to an AI Startup, by Emily Belz, Christianity Today, November 12, 2024.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace… (1 Peter 4.10, ESV)

I’ve written about outrage before. It is, as my son Mark says, America’s favorite indoor sport. Sahil Bloom wrote about anger recently, and it’s too good not to pass on. After all, we remember a story better than we remember ideas:

When I was a kid, my grandfather told me the story of the Buddha and the Angry Man:

One day, the Buddha was walking through a village when a young man approached and began yelling at him.

​"You are a fake! How can you claim to have wisdom to teach others? You know nothing!"

​The Buddha paused and smiled at the young man, which further angered him.

​"What do you have to say to me? I attack you and you just smile?"

​The Buddha replied: "If you buy a gift for someone and that person doesn't accept it, to whom does the gift belong?"

​The young man, agitated, replied that the gift would still belong to him, because he was the one who had bought it.

​The Buddha nodded: "The same applies to your anger. If you come to me with anger, but I choose not to accept it, the anger still belongs to you. You are the only one who is moved by it."

This story offers two powerful lessons that we all need to hear:

1. Vocalizing anger and outrage often creates more damage internally than it creates impact externally. Think about whether there is a more effective pathway to voice your perspectives if impact is the goal.
2. If someone comes to you with anger, always remember that you can choose not to accept it.

Both lessons are worth contemplating as you navigate life in the days, weeks, and months ahead… – Sahil Bloom, November 9, 2024

Good counsel:

• You are the only one moved by your anger.
• Vocalizing anger and outrage often creates more damage internally than it creates impact externally.
• If impact is the goal, there are more effective ways to communicate than with anger.

Good counsel, confirmed by Scripture:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (James 1.19, 20, NIV)