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DO YOU FRET?

Psalm 37:8
“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”

Ephesians 4:26
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”

I decided to look up the word “fret” in the dictionary to get an accurate definition.

Fret= an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation ; to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex ; to become eaten, worn, or corroded; to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like. (

The definitions go on and on in the same vein. As I think about last week’s meditations about my mouth and my words I see that many of my careless words do not come from anger but from “fretting!” Do you fret? I realize that I do!

If I get annoyed with someone, either something they say or something they do, I turn it over in my mind over and over again. I worry about it, or I express my annoyance or discontent with that person…. I usually do it in my mind and eventually it will come out in my words!!!!!!!!!

I love the word “vexation”. It brings me back to one of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice when the mother of the protagonist says to her husband in a perfect British accent, “I do believe you delight in vexing me.” haha! Even as I write this I realize that I do believe I delight in vexing myself! I’m fairly certain that I must take a certain delight in vexing myself or to use the biblical term, in fretting. Why else would I do it? Would that mean that I actually delight in this sin??? May it not be so, O Lord!

Fretting does tend to evil, it manifests in eating away at a peaceful heart and mind, it causes worry and discontent and it may lead to expressing this discontent verbally.

Amazing how one sin can lead to so many others! So, I think that today, I continue to pray that God would not only guard my mouth but guard my heart and mind so that if I get annoyed at people, that I will not fret, but instead extend grace to all as God so generously gives his grace to me!

Anyone else do this? Do you fret?