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“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).
I was reminded of this verse a few days ago, when it was reported in the news media that a senator in a large western country, while speaking with a union leader, became so angry that he almost got into a fistfight with him. He was likely provoked by the union leader, but that senator did not know how to rule his spirit. He was in a position of responsibility and privilege, and should not have acted that way.
The Hebrew word used here for “spirit” has a wide variety of meanings, but here it means what is going on inside a person. The word is also used for the Spirit of God.
If we walk with the Lord, and ask Him to help us, we can control our spirit so that we do not get angry quickly, and do things that dishonor the Lord. As our verse says, it is more important to rule our spirit than to do some great thing like conquering a city.
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