Slow to Anger

Lately, I've found myself getting cranky quite a bit. Usually it's directed toward someone or something that I don't see being done "right" so I consider it some sort of righteous anger. You know, as if I'm on some holier than thou kick, believing that when I do things, they're done "right" and when people don't do them like I would, they're most certainly "wrong." 

So, tonight after a seemingly "wrong" going meeting, I came home cranky but decided to search "slow to anger" into the biblegateway.com search engine. I got nine old testament passages with the exact phrase "slow to anger." All but one said exactly the same phrase after it too: "..and abounding in love..." 

I got to thinking, I bet God looks at earth and his people and thinks, "I think you're going about that in the wrong way," all the time. How many times do I deserve a cranky God looking at me, shaking His head. How many times have I gone about things in my own way, even sometimes knowing that His way will undoubtedly be better, but choosing the wrong way anyway. And yet, God doesn't fly off the handle, He doesn't throw his hands in the air, complain about me and my choices, He doesn't take things away from me when I don't do them just right. Why not? Because He is abounding in love. And being full of love, He wants me to learn and grow. How do I do that? Sometimes by doing things the wrong way. 

So, how do I implement this in my own life? How do I cool it and stop being so darn cranky at all those people doing things the wrong way? Well, the only thing I can figure is just love them more, be downright overflowing with love. How can I get so mad at the people that I love so much? They're trying their best, just like I am. And getting mad just freaks people out, shuts people down, hurts people. So, I pray for the capacity to love people more as I try to model after God, being slow to anger and full of love.