Thomas Marsh

 Thomas Marsh was an early saint who, after the death of his son, began to have feelings of jealousy and anger over many issues including a dispute between his wife and another over skimming the cream from milk.  Eventually it led to his leaving the church. 

More than 20 years later he returned with sorrow, and as a part of his request for reconciliation said the following in a letter to Heber C Kimball:

"The Lord could get along very well without me and He … lost nothing by my falling out of the ranks; But O what have I lost?! Riches, greater riches than all this world or many planets like this could afford."

While he was reconciled to the fold he lost out on many blessings in the interim.

President Thomas S Monson cautioned, "Apropos are the words of the poet John Greenleaf Whittier: “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’”....we are all susceptible to those feelings which, if left unchecked, can lead to anger. We experience displeasure or irritation or antagonism, and if we so choose, we lose our temper and become angry with others. Ironically, those others are often members of our own families—the people we really love the most."

Just think of the collective improvement in our society that would come about if each of us consciously chose to let unkind words remain unsaid (or untyped!).

Or consider the collective cost of allowing anger and jealousy to cause us to veer off the path of righteousness. 

What may be said briefly in anger by one may often be played on repeat in the mind of others, persistently chipping away at their self-worth.  A moments care in self-control can make a significant difference.  And as we honor the divine worth of others it will build our recognition of our own.