The sulks are just the worst. We know how ugly & irksome it is in children: they ask for candy, the answer “no,†followed by the lower lip sticking out like a slug on the forest floor of the Amazon jungle. The little one is denied what he wanted, and so because his imagined joy is disappointed, he’ll now make sure everyone else’s joy is as well.
The sulks in a child are, of course, foolish, sinful, and should be corrected. Largely because if the foolishness of sulkiness is not driven from the heart of a child, when they become an adult they will no longer have the sulks, they will be a sulk.
A sulk is never pleased and lets everyone else know. The waitress at the restaurant get’s an earful from him. The boss knows all his excuses. His wife gives a wide berth to his moodiness. His children must clamor for his attention or cower before his volcanic eruptions.
The cause of the sulks is largely envy. He didn’t get his way in the meeting. He didn’t receive the promotion. She wasn’t awarded the prize she was sure she deserved. He was turned down by the girl he’d set his eye on. Her crush asked her best friend out, instead of her.Â
The cure for the sulks is contentment. The Romanian Pastor Richard Wurbrand––imprisoned for refusing to affirm the Communist platform––once described a worship service in prison, “[we clanged] our chains together for musical accompaniment.†Rather than sulking in the prison, they turned their hard circumstances into a means of praise. The irrepressible joy of salvation in Christ is the antidote to the sulks. Are you in danger of becoming a sulk? Then flee from the self-absorption of envy, and gaze upon the lovely glory that God sent His Son to die for this sad race of sulks.
Leave a Reply