On Saturday night, the Charlotte Hornets were down 100-98 in the closing seconds of their game against the Golden State Warriors. Following a jump ball at midcourt, there was a scramble on the floor to secure the ball as Draymond Green and Gordon Hayward both went for it.
The Hornets were able to get a timeout while Hayward grabbed the ball, and Green was mad that the Hornets were given the possession, so he passionately argued the call.
The refs felt he went too far and gave Green two technical fouls for his angry reaction, which resulted in him being ejected from the game.
With nine seconds left to go in the game, the Hornets were awarded two free throws and Terry Rozier knocked both of them down to tie the game at 100. Then on the final possession, Rozier hit an unbelievable shot over the Warriors’ defense to win the game 102-100.
Draymond Green lost his cool and allowed his emotions to get the best of him. His anger, which resulted in technicals, led to a loss for the Warriors.
As a headline on CBSSports.com put it, “Draymond Green's Temper Costs Warriors' Potential Win, and it Could Hurt Them Even More Down the Line.”
Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, said after the game, "He crossed the line. We know we wouldn't be the team we are without him. But that doesn't give him permission to cross the line."
When these types of incidents happen in sports, I don’t like to point fingers at the athlete as much as I like to draw a comparison to our own lives. The following questions come to mind:
How do we respond to a bad call in life?
How do we react when we’re wronged or when we feel the need to passionately argue about something?
Does our anger cause us to cross the line?
How are we handling our own temper?
Has losing our temper caused us to lose something else?
Is anger just a sign of something deeper going on inside our hearts?
The Bible explains in Proverbs 29:11 (AMP), “A fool always loses his temper and displays his anger, but a wise man holds it back.”
Proverbs 29:22 (AMP) says, “An angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered and undisciplined man commits many transgressions.”
The reality is, things in life are going to make us angry whether it’s with our spouses, co-workers, strangers, or kids. However, as followers of Jesus, we must pause and yield to the Holy Spirit in moments of frustration.
We can then ask God for strength to calm down instead of allowing a situation to escalate because we quickly react based on our emotions.
We must pray that God helps us respond with the right tone and the right words before crossing the line and saying something we’ll regret. We don’t want our “temper to cost us or hurt us even more down the line,” so we have to release our anger before it does.
Proverbs 17:14 (AMP) gives us this warning: “The beginning of strife is like letting out water ; therefore abandon the quarrel before it breaks out and tempers explode.”
Ephesians 4:26-27 (CEV) tells us, “Don’t get so angry that you sin. Don’t go to bed angry and don’t give the devil a chance.”
We need the Lord’s strength to help us overcome our harmful anger that leads to sin. We also need to seek Him to show us the deeper issues in our hearts that may be causing regular outbursts.
As we rely on God to empower us when anger begins to take over, He helps us remain calm and level-headed. Today, when “calls” don’t go our way or somebody wrongs us, let's choose to win instead of losing our temper and potentially losing much more.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I confess that my anger has caused me to cross the line at times. I pray that in those moments of frustration, I would turn to You for strength instead of allowing anger to lead me to an outburst. Teach me to honor You when I face conflict and frustrations. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
What is your normal response to anger?
In what ways have you grown or struggled with your temper and having outbursts?
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