A COOL SPIRIT

The young staff member and I sat in my office talking through a difficult situation in which he found himself embroiled. In the course of a conversation with a pastor on behalf of the ministry we both worked for, a misunderstanding had occurred. Heated words had been exchanged on both sides and the phone call was finished in anger.

The staff member came to me right away and explained, from his point of view, what had happened. He finished by saying, “I know he’s going to call you and I wanted you to hear my side first!” At least he was as honest as he could be at that point.

The young man then looked at me and said, “You never seem to lose your cool, even when people are saying pretty nasty things about you. How do you do that?” That may not have been completely true but I was glad my life gave that impression. What I shared with him that afternoon is what I’m sharing now. The passages of Scripture and the principles they contain are a part of the scriptural principles that guide my life.

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28 - NKJV).

A person who has no control over his own spirit is a person who can be taken advantage of. If you don’t control your thought life, your anger, or your passion, all kinds of influences and thoughts will find residence and will fight for control of your life.

“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

The man who gets angry quickly is weak and will lose his way more easily than the man who has rule over his spirit. Note that the verse doesn’t say that anger has no place in the life of a believer, but that anger can be controlled. Over and over when praying for and counseling people in trouble, I have been asked to pray that their anger be removed—but I have never prayed for that and never will. It is not wrong to get angry about a problem or a troubling situation, but you must control/rule the anger and not let it control you. God put that intensity in you, but not for bad. It’s a part of who you are and God intends for you to have the rule over it.

“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23).

This verse is cautioning people to be careful in what they say. The man or woman who knows when to say something and, perhaps more importantly, when not to say something, is a person who has taken a giant step away from trouble. The phrase “mouth and tongue” is figurative language for speech. The word “soul” is better rendered “himself” and the word “troubles” in Hebrew is plural and suggests legal and social difficulties resulting from unwise talk.


“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19).

The word “sin” is also rendered “transgression” which refers to offensive behavior. Offensive behavior refers to a failure to practice good sense in dealing with others. People who talk too much, who can’t seem to control their tongue, have a tendency to get themselves into trouble that did not have to happen. In fact, people who talk too much are actually displaying their insecurity. It’s better to be a person of few words than to run off at the mouth.

“He that spareth his words hath knowledge; and he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding” (Proverbs 10:19 - New American Standard Version).

When a person has a thorough knowledge of something, he does not normally have to use an abundance of words to make his point.

And then there’s this…I’ve always wanted to be known as a cool guy, and surprise! Here I am in the Bible.