A soft
answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs
15:1
As we
studied yesterday, the way in which we deal with people displays the true
character of our heart and how we align ourselves with the will of God… Paul
reminded us yesterday that we are to be “…kindly
affectionate” to one another… Today we are told that “A soft answer turneth away wrath…” The source of anger which
builds up in a person usually derives from how they are spoken to regarding a
situation or action… I can recall growing up and even in my adulthood about how
I have always been told that it isn’t
want you say but how you say it and this principle is what we are focusing
on in today’s devotional… The most powerful tool that you have been given to
utilize in the body of Christ is your tongue; sadly, this can also be a deadly
tool when the enemy has his way with you… As a child of God, you are called to
bear witness, to reach others with his word and speak the name of Jesus Christ
throughout the world… This is accomplished through the tongue and can only be achieved
when we learn to defuse situations instead of igniting them… As I just stated,
you can stir up anger with you words
or you can speak in love to your fellowman and allow a situation that could’ve
spiraled out of control to be used to encourage and uplift a wayward soul… You
are called to give the right answer; however the way you give it will either
lead someone to Christ or drive them away as the Proverb tells us that A soft answer turneth away wrath… There
are so many things that we all endure in this life which put us or keep us on
edge; some of us are walking around like a ticking time bomb ready to go off on
someone if given the opportunity… I don’t know what has transpired in your life
today since you have awaken this morning, I don’t know what bad news you may
have heard or received; however, in Christ I know that when the beacon light of
the savior lives in my I have the ability to dismiss your frustrations by speaking
a loving and affectionate word which will not only help with you interaction with
may, but may even set the course for your day when you encounter others… The
domino affect theory applies to us, we can start the chain of speaking love and
let it trickle down the line so that the one who needs a loving word today will
receive it… You have the ability in you, use your tongue to bring praise and
honor to our Lord… Your tongue is powerful and it’s about time you channel that
power to a strong purpose of healing and restoration… James devotes almost the
whole 3rd of his book to the power of the tongue; it is this chapter that we
find these words, “The tongue also is a
fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole
body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on
fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being
tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. No matter what someone says
about you or how they try to attack you, if you go before them with a soft
answer and don’t’ give in to the temptation of firing back with harmful words
you not only can defuse a situation, but you also can open the door to building
a friendship with the one who was speaking negatively against you… The desire
of the enemy is to get you off track, to change your focus and one of the
easiest ways to do that is to have someone attack your character or gossip
about you…
I know that
when someone speaks harmful words about me I naturally want to say something
back or even confront them; however, we must learn the measure of Christ and
how to handle these situations… Solomon reminds us that even the most tempting times;
we can avoid stirring up anger and still present Christ in every situation… I’m
pretty sure that we have all been told at some point of have heard the saying
that, “It’s not what you say, but how
you say it…” The difference between a (n) argument and a conversation is
the tone of the voices that are present… We are reminded today that as a child
of God we are called to turn away wrath; no matter how upset you get or how
frustrated you feel, you must be able to maintain a positive attitude toward
your situation so that the devil does not win… The book of James tells us that
the tongue is the most powerful member of our body; it can speak kind words or spew
venom… Today, we see that anger can be subdued and altercations can be
minimized if we learn to control our speech… Again, this Proverb says “A soft
answer turneth away wrath…” Think about this powerful statement for a second,
the writer isn’t saying that we are to be weak as we tend to equate weakness
with being soft, but that we must know how to speak to each other in kindness
and still make our stance known… We can
turn away any wrath (anger, rage or fury) that the enemy presents before us… I
firmly believe that as a child of God we are tested daily in our lives not only
to learn but also to measure our growth in our Spiritual walk… One of the
biggest measuring sticks we have is how we talk to each other… The more that
you are able to speak kindness and not slander or gossip against your neighbor
shows how much you have grown in your walk… This proverb goes on to tell us
that “grievous words stir up anger…” Whether you realize it or not,
confrontations all start by words… Either we react to a commit someone makes or
we hear that someone has said something about us and we seek to correct them… I
can recall a time not too long ago where I would curse like a sailor and many
thought that my vocabulary was embodied by 4-letter words… Needless to say, at
that point in my life I also was involved in more fights at that time too… What
I learned from those experiences is that it wasn’t that people disliked me or I
disliked them, but that the words that were uttered generated a (n) attitude of
retaliation… This is what this Proverb is talking about today, we must learn to
speak soft words, learn to lift each other up, learn to encourage one another
and deny the devil any alley’s to disrupt our walk and Spiritual goals… We are
being called today to speak kind words to one another out of respect for our
Savior and the one to whom we are speaking. Remember the bible tells us that
when Jesus was on trial He never said a mumbling word; however, when He spoke
the elders tore their clothes in disgust… They crucified Jesus because of the
words He spoke not because of who He was… This is a (n) important concept to
appreciate as we learn to understand the value that our words have and how they
affect others… In this world, crime thrives because of instigators who
influence people to do stupid things. God
has called us to calm a situation not spread the noise. We need to understand
that, look at how many times Jesus was confronted by situations, and how did he
respond (with peace and love) we need to learn to do the same…
BE BLESSED!!!
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