In May this year, an Ikeja High Court sentenced one Stella Gilbert to death for the murder of her neighbour. She had stabbed the victim in the chest and arm with a knife. Sources claimed that what became aggravated was caused by a dispute over who had the right to use a bench left by another erstwhile neighbour. If the sources are correct, two lives will eventually be lost to a piece of furniture that can hardly be priced for five thousand naira. The first thing that comes to mind is that not everything is worth fighting over. Those who do not realise this can spend their entire life on worthless causes. In a sense, what one fights over is a reflection of value. Life promises much more than expending energy on issues that holds little or no reward whatsoever.
It is not in vain that the Bible says anger rests in the bosom of fools. Those who have unguarded temper will eventually cause themselves great ruins.
The advice to avoid anger is better appreciated in the light of recorded history. According to the Bible, the first display of anger was by Cain. He was angry at his brother whose offering was accepted by God. That was misplaced anger, to say the least. Abel in no way determined what Cain took to God as sacrifice; nor was he instrumental to God’s rejection of same. If he must be angry at all, it should have been towards God. His unwarranted anger led to the murder of his brother in cold blood. The Bible also recorded the anger of Moses. In anger he slew an Egyptian. Also in anger, he smote the rock when God asked him to speak to it. The first display of anger cost him precious 40 years in the wilderness. The second one kept him from entering Canaan’s fullness. It is not in vain that the Bible says anger rests in the bosom of fools. Those who have unguarded temper will eventually cause themselves great ruins.