Beer, Reactions, and Self-Control
Read The Daily:
“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” – James 1:19
Several years ago, we were at a Reds game with our little kids. Around the 4th inning, a girl behind us stumbled and spilled her beer all over them. Total mess. She panicked and said, “I’m so sorry! Pour a beer on me—I deserve it!” I looked at her and said, “We’re good.” But her reaction stuck with me. Not because of what she did—but how she responded. It was loud, fast, and all over the place.
And honestly? We’ve all been there. Someone pushes a button, hits a nerve, or triggers something deeper—and we go off. Not because we’re bad people. But because something inside us is still hurting or unhealed. And when that happens, our reactions usually speak louder than our words.
James puts it like this: be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. That doesn’t mean you ignore what happened. It just means you don’t have to explode every time you’re upset. Jesus didn’t. He was misunderstood, attacked, and betrayed—but He stayed grounded in who He was. He didn’t match energy. He chose something better.
So today, what’s one situation where you’ve been reacting instead of responding? What would it look like to pause before popping off? You don’t have to pour out your frustration to feel seen. You can let God handle it—and trust that you don’t have to match the mess to prove your worth.
Prayer for the Day
God what are you showing me? What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.
Read The New Testament In A Year
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.” Luke 6:1-5
Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God. Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives. Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism. But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband. She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good? The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry. Then they would be guilty of breaking their previous pledge. And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t. So I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them. For I am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan. If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone. 1 Timothy 5;1-16