Bakugo, MHA's King Saul!

Raging tempers, explosive yelling, a prideful mindset, and violent reactions to people around him.  If I just left it right there, this really describes two people. (at least from my vantage point). I see the character of Bakugo from the anime My Hero Academia (MHA).  Bakugo is the kind of guy who needs no introduction as he typically lets his ego lead the charge for most of that.  A naturally gifted teen who is able to secrets a nitro glycerin substance that explodes when he wants, is seen to be one of the most power heroes in training throughout the series.  Our young hero has a lot of capacity to fight off bad guys and often demonstrates that he is a strategist in the midst of a fight. Yet, his biggest flaw is that he has a short fuse with people around him, pun intended. Particularly, he has major angst for his classmate Deku who seems weak at first, but still out paces the natural hero at different points in the anime. Eventually, Deku and Bakugo do get to settle some of their differences, but there is still this underlying proud personality that is about him.

Looking at Saul in the beginning of his kingship, you would likely say that he is the opposite of Bakugo as he is seen as very self-doubting and seems to have no ego at all. However, once he is officially king of Israel and starts making some progress in battles against the Philistines, he becomes more puffed up about himself. Saul's pride got him into hot water with Samuel the prophet and with God as Saul was more focused on what he wanted to get done than to look for God's guidance or blessing (1 Samuel 13:1-14). Then there is David who is helping out Saul with tormenting thoughts by playing some epic harp music and when this teenage kid hears about a giant problem and was willing to fight it, Saul just laughs him off as a kid who doesn't know what he is talking about. After David defeats the giant, Saul gets pretty ticked about this guy getting the praise to the point where he tries to turn him into a pin cushion with a spear...twice (1 Samuel 18:10-11).  Sadly, Saul died by his own hands in battle and even saw the downfall of his family. What started out in some humility, turned to pride and arrogance that blinded him to what he needed to do all along: look to God in humility, thank God for what was given to him as a king, and serve God in complete obedience.

Do you connect with our hot headed gents here and tend to react or focus on yourself a little too much? It's not too late to learn from this and really be like Bakugo, seeing the value of humility and learning from those that irritate you. Try going to God and asking Him to work out your frustration and perspective, then wait and see if He brings a Deku/David to learn from in your life.

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