controlling additueds & reactions

"Mommy he's making me mad!" or, "I only hit him because he mad me mad".

I hear these comments all to often at my house. And it usually comes most often from my middle son.
I know others do have the ability to make us mad. But I feel its alot the persons own fault that they get mad in the first place.
So i often reply back to this comment, " your making your self mad. If you don't want to get mad, then don't get mad!" ( I also tell him to walk off from a sisuation)

Now i know which ever of the brothers that were iritating him was in the wrong, but i also feel he should control how he reacts to what they do.
For we can not control what others say or do to us , we can only control how we let it effect us.

The bothers obviously get some enjoyment out of his reaction, so if he didn't let it bother him, they wouldn't have no fun, and they would quit what ever it was they were doing. ( i also discipline them for that of course)

It seems a very hard thing to do, but i feel its very importian for life to control how we let different things effects us. And to learn that as a child is so much easier I think.

Self control in many areas has been something that has been very impotrian issue to me to teach my children.

The more self control we have the less problems we will run in to in life. And I feel we get that strength only in God. And the stronger we are in the Lord the stronger we are in all areas.

( let me know what you think of this post, and how you handle these kind of sisuations. )