As a woodworker of sorts I know the importance of having sharp tools. Sharp tools not only require the proper technique for obtaining the finest most effective edge, they also require the properly tempered metal in order to keep that edge. Tempering is both fine art and high science. It is, basically, making a metal just hard enough to be sharpened to a high degree without being so hard that it shatters or chips too easily. When properly tempered, knives, chisels and even razor blades hold their edge for a long time. Get it wrong, making an edge too hard makes it brittle; make it too soft and it won’t cut anything at all.
When a person loses their temper, they too become pretty much useless. Anger can make us too hard or too soft. Bitterness and spite are the result of a heart that hardens when we blow up with rage. Loss of control and violence take over when we let anger soften our self-control. Either way, when we lose our temper, we end up losing. Even worse, it’s not just ourselves that lose when we become angry; those around us are affected, sometimes far more greatly than we ourselves.
Like a fine tool, we need to have just the right temper in order to keep our edge. To be effective we need a balance of hard and soft, of strength and softness in order to make our way through life. If we are too soft then we fall apart under the slightest stress. If we are too hard then we can express neither joy nor sorrow. It’s not easy and we are terribly inconsistent but for the most part we are generally able to maintain the right temper.
God demonstrated the perfectly tempered human in Jesus Christ. The right balance of strength and weakness, the Son of God made His way through life dealing wisely and graciously with everyone He met. Of course, that didn’t mean that Jesus’ relationships were perfect. Try as He might, other, less perfectly tempered people had a hard time dealing with Him. ToO angry or too easily influenced by folks with the wrong ideas, they failed to understand Jesus. Other more evenly tempered people, ordinary folks like us, simply refused to be touched by Him. Sad as it might seem, that’s part of our reality; even though we may be evenly tempered and have the perfect personality traits, we still have the power to make bad decisions, like refusing to let Jesus in.
He’s OK with that. Part of His wonderful temperament is to be very patient. Jesus was, after all, pre-existent, around before creation began, so a few years waiting for us to make the right choice is nothing to Jesus. When we’re ready, He’ll be there for us. What’s even better is that it doesn’t matter if we ourselves our perfectly tempered. Jesus will take us however we come, whether it’s hot-headed or wimpy; all we have to do is to make the right choice.
When a person loses their temper, they too become pretty much useless. Anger can make us too hard or too soft. Bitterness and spite are the result of a heart that hardens when we blow up with rage. Loss of control and violence take over when we let anger soften our self-control. Either way, when we lose our temper, we end up losing. Even worse, it’s not just ourselves that lose when we become angry; those around us are affected, sometimes far more greatly than we ourselves.
Like a fine tool, we need to have just the right temper in order to keep our edge. To be effective we need a balance of hard and soft, of strength and softness in order to make our way through life. If we are too soft then we fall apart under the slightest stress. If we are too hard then we can express neither joy nor sorrow. It’s not easy and we are terribly inconsistent but for the most part we are generally able to maintain the right temper.
God demonstrated the perfectly tempered human in Jesus Christ. The right balance of strength and weakness, the Son of God made His way through life dealing wisely and graciously with everyone He met. Of course, that didn’t mean that Jesus’ relationships were perfect. Try as He might, other, less perfectly tempered people had a hard time dealing with Him. ToO angry or too easily influenced by folks with the wrong ideas, they failed to understand Jesus. Other more evenly tempered people, ordinary folks like us, simply refused to be touched by Him. Sad as it might seem, that’s part of our reality; even though we may be evenly tempered and have the perfect personality traits, we still have the power to make bad decisions, like refusing to let Jesus in.
He’s OK with that. Part of His wonderful temperament is to be very patient. Jesus was, after all, pre-existent, around before creation began, so a few years waiting for us to make the right choice is nothing to Jesus. When we’re ready, He’ll be there for us. What’s even better is that it doesn’t matter if we ourselves our perfectly tempered. Jesus will take us however we come, whether it’s hot-headed or wimpy; all we have to do is to make the right choice.
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