When we come in contact with people who agitate us by doing something we consider harmful, hurtful, or lacking in honesty and truthfulness, it’s easy to get pulled into fretting. Fretting will rob our hearts of peace, joy, and positive focus, bringing worry, anger, distress, and a tendency toward pessimism as a replacement. The more we fret, the more we will gravitate toward being unkind, spiteful and full of ill feelings. That is why the Lord cautions us over and over not to continue on fretting toward those who are offensive to us. When our hearts are fretting and full of anger, we have to make choice of what we need to do with our emotions: (1) we can allow them to stay and reside in our hearts, which will be harmful to our soul-(2) we can put them on other people and be abusive and damaging- or (3) we can put them on Jesus, who has the ability to take them and free us from the destructive nature of fretting. If we choose to put our anger on Jesus, processing through the unpleasant emotions and letting go of them, our hearts will again find freedom, peace, and joy. Letting go of negative emotions enables us to work toward forgiving offensive people for what they do and who they are. It allows us to speak the truth in love, place them in God’s hands, and find rest. The process of working out emotions, letting go, and forgiving will keep us from getting caught up in the act of fretting.

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of those who work unrighteousness [that which is not upright or in right standing with God]. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself-it tends only to evildoing” (Psalm 37:1,8).