All the (Road) Rage

Most of us have be the victim of some form of aggressive or bad driving. Some people seem to have trouble getting from Point A to B without driving right. They cut you off, won’t allow you to merge, drive too close to your bumper, and act as if they’re the only ones on the road.

What do you do?

Often, immediate thoughts of revenge come to mind. You want to speed up, catch up to them, and either cut them off or slow down to look at them. You want to find some way to make them pay for what they did. You want to make sure they don’t get away with it!

When you seek revenge for someone’s reckless and thoughtless actions, don’t you become just as reckless and place yourself and others in danger? Seeking revenge for an offense on the road comes with too high of a price.

First, giving into anger in these situations is dangerous (see above).

Second, it gives place to sin.

Third, God gets no glory in road rage.

When these situations occur, you only have a few moments to decide how you’ll respond. If you know you have an issue with road rage, it’s best that you prepare yourself mentally. You have to make a conscious decision not react to the temptation of road rage and let it go. This decision may come before you even start your car. Many times road rage develops out of the desire to repay someone evil for evil – to show them that you’re not the ONE to mess with and to think twice about EVER doing that to you AGAIN!

Romans 12:17a – Recompense to no man evil for evil.

Road rage isn’t worth the price tag it comes with. One split second decision of revenge can result in a permanent outcome for yourself or others. Choose the higher road by deciding to slow down, not cut someone off, or tailgate. The life you live as a disciple of Jesus Christ isn’t about revenge and repaying people evil for evil. That is the life (and behavior) of the world, which you should not be a part of.

John 17:15-18 – I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

As you’ve been sent into the world, your life as a disciple is not only for the church. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can love, reveal your association with Jesus (John 13:35), and bring glory to God. Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified through the Father’s truth – which is His word.

Picture this, someone cuts you off on the freeway, but you choose not to act in revenge. The car behinds you saw what happened and thought you would be justified in taking a little revenge. Intrigued, they consider your actions throughout the day and when a similar situation occurs to them a few days later, they quickly remember your actions and choose not to act in anger.

Be humble…be safe…choose safety and love over revenge!

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