Can Impulsive Behavior Be Controlled?

One characteristic of adolescent children is the tendency to act impulsively without first evaluating the implications of their choices. Young people’s immaturity and lack of experience make it difficult to visualize themselves meeting a tragic end.

Impulsive behavior is often associated with lasting regret. In high school, two friends impulsively decided to join the Navy. Having failed to acquire high school diplomas, their assigned job duties failed to meet their expectations. Another defining moment came when they left their Naval base without permission and returned home.

Impulsive decisions often result in pain and suffering. Yet a decisive moment can be a positive experience when anchored in prayer and the certainty of God’s blessings. Failures also can result in positive good if a person seeks God’s forgiveness and turns to him in sincere repentance.

God’s love for us is greater than our sin.                    

__________ 

When the righteous cry out for help, the Lord hears and delivers them... The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.

~Psalm 34:17-18 Revised Standard Version

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Repent – Don't Return and Resume

When a new beginning fails to meet expectations, returning to a previous position or place is often a first choice. Although this option is convenient, it might not be the best choice. For instance, it would be unwise to tell a new Christian to resume a previous lifestyle after failing to live morally perfect. Encouraging that person to start over with repentance and forgiveness is within the bounds of God’s grace and mercy.

When the Hebrew people failed miserably at being God's people, Moses refused to let them self-destruct in shame and disgrace. Instead he pleaded with God to give them a new beginning.

Deliberate sin and disobedience may have long-term consequences, yet God describes himself as compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, and faithful to forgive wickedness, rebellion, and sin. If you have fallen short of a new beginning, God will give you a new start and a new attitude along with a new plan of action that he will bless.

___________ 

I have sinned against you – only against you – and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me. Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil. Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me. Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

~Psalm 51:4,9-12 Good News Bible

___________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Integrity: Aligning Actions with Words - Part 3

The reason for conflict is a clash of personality differences. Differences include how we communicate, what we believe to be true about each other, and what we need and want. We need to feel accepted, and likewise, we must accept others as they are and learn to love them for who they are. Respecting each other's integrity allows for individual differences and beliefs.

The alternative is frustration and emotional alienation, if not physical separation. This is where anger plays a major role. Fights, prompted by anger, are about who controls whom and what. Integrity is wounded when control becomes a major issue in a relationship. Anger then is an impediment to the health of a relationship.

An important choice you can make is to respect the integrity of others. That means respecting a person's right to be different. The alternative is conflict. You can choose to let conflict be the motivation for changing. God is described as being slow to anger, abounding in love, so He respects our integrity and appeals to us to follow his example.