How many people have gotten your goat over your lifetime and when they have, what have you done about it? Are you the kind of person who is prone to flying into a rage, the kind that stews inside, or one who is not even in touch with your anger? What you do with anger can determine your emotional as well as physical health.

Psychiatrists tell us that anger is one of the most inadequately dealt with problems today; that most of us have an unresolved anger fund. Illnesses and conditions such as heart attacks, ulcers, headaches, gastro-intestinal problems, back aches, sexual disorders, depression, psychosis, neuroses, chronic pain, dermatological conditions, and many other diseases have been attributed to anger.

Have you ever considered that when the Lord told us to pray “Forgive us as we forgive others” that he was telling us to keep watch over our goats? Our commission from Him has been to find lost sheep, but there’s no question in my mind that goats must come first and that this goat getting is no easy thing. Forgiving others does not mean pushing down or denying hurts and anger as some suppose. Contrary to a lot of beliefs, confrontation is not a bad word. There are some of us who would rather suffer all the diseases mentioned rather than experience confrontation, but most goats won’t come home without the butting of heads. The key is that when we confront and love, there is a protection wrapped around the head that reduces the sharpness of the impact and allows understanding to penetrate the mind.

Who would have believed that the truth setting us free came from a goat clam named “Forgiveness”?… Your na-a-a-as and ba-a-a-as aren’t going to get MY goat!!!