Don’t Coach Mad

Don’t Coach Mad

Rick Pitino, the head basketball coach of the Louisville Cardinals, once said, “Don’t coach mad.” I think we could expand this in a myriad of ways:

• Don’t lead mad.
• Don’t work mad.
• Don’t parent mad.
• Don’t play mad.
• Don’t be a mad spouse.

Proverbs 29:22 states, “An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.” This Scripture shows us that an angry person has a wake of conflict in his life, and it counsels us to not get caught up in it. Unfortunately, there are angry people all around us, and it is hard not to be impacted by the choices that they make.

It is easy to talk about others being angry. But the more important reflection to consider is a personal one. Are you angry? Those who are angry are usually those who have been wounded. When their hurts aren’t healed, those hurts will express themselves in a myriad of ways. One common way is that pain gets turned into anger, and if I have seen it once, I have seen it many times—hurt people tend to hurt other people.

If this is your story, I want to encourage you to seek counseling. Ultimately, it is going to involve forgiveness—being forgiven by Christ and allowing Christ to help you forgive those who hurt you. A certified professional Christian counselor can walk you through this process. It may get worse before it gets better, but if you see it through to the end, you will be so glad that you did.

An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

Proverbs 29:22