I've been introducing to you the members of the Tator family. You may have met them before, but in case you haven't, I wanted you to get to know them. We met the mother and father, Dick Tator and Emmy Tator. Yesterday we got to know their daughter, Hessie Tator.
Today I'd like to introduce their son, Aggie Tator. Now, I know we generally think of boys as being full of mischief, but Aggie's problem is much more than the normal boyish spirit. Aggie is really a troublemaker. He literally looks for ways to cause discord and disrupt the family unity.
Have you ever known someone like Aggie Tator? They use words as instruments of pain, to hurt people. They say things that cause suspicions to arise in the other person's mind. Sometimes it's the smallest little seed of discord they sow, but it leads to much trouble when it takes root and grows.
In Proverbs 6:19, we read one of the seven things that are detestable to the Lord is a person who stirs up dissension among brothers. I'm afraid that's Aggie Tator—stirring up dissension wherever he can.
Have you ever wondered why Aggie Tator is so intent on causing problems? Proverbs 29:22 gives us a clue.
An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins (Proverbs 29:22).
Anger that is not dealt with properly will explode on you in ways that are out of control and totally inappropriate. I think that happens with Aggie Tator. He's got anger inside him which he's never dealt with, and that anger has grown into bitterness, which displays itself by causing trouble for others.
If only Aggie could turn to the Lord with his anger and give his bitterness over to the Lord. He'd find healing for those wounds and release from all that anger. He'd find his hot temper could be controlled by God's Spirit, and as a result he wouldn't be causing all those problems all the time. You have to feel sorry for Aggie Tator; he makes his own life miserable as well as everyone else's.
