I have read that "a soft answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15: 1). If you rebuke an angry person, you'll probably get some abuse in return. But admonish a wise person, and that person will become even wiser (Proverbs 9: 8). Make any sense to you?
Acrimony only produces more and more resentment. It happens on the job, on the street, in marriage, and in just about every conceivable place. Isn't it time for this to cease in our lives? Isn't this about what is taking place in the Gaza Strip? Even in the courtroom acrimony is present. We need to pay attention to what makes us angry. What causes us to lash out when we really don't want to? Are we ever ready to say we're sorry if we offended someone who didn't deserve it? If truth is your breatplate, you can win an argument simply by your behavior, not necessarily your spoken words. Any vicious verbal attack against you by an evil person will be deflected by silence, and if you indeed follow truth, any opportunity for a retort will come from outside of your own insights. Again, if it is someone close to you that you have offended by your words, asking forgiveness soon will heal both you and that person. If they don't forgive you right away, no need to worry. You did what you could; it's in that person's court now. Give it some time and move on. Try this on for size. It may very well be that you do need to hear out the other person. You may have missed the crux the last time around! A good practice is to think before you speak. This takes some practice, of course. At the foot of the Christian cross is power and forgiveness.
We must avoid dissemblers and scoffers. This is also following truth. If we can't completely avoid them, which is usually the case, then we must keep a very close guard over our lips and intellect. I heard this little story once about a monk in a monastery who went to his superior for advice regarding his habitual babbling. The superior suggested a drastic but effective solution. He instructed the young and inexperienced monk to tie a small stone to his tongue with a piece of string. For many weeks and months, the brotherhood wondered greatly why this individual never spoke to anyone at all. They eventually found out that this humble-made monk conquered vain talk within six months.
We mortals seem to have a natural proclivity to speak and be social just the same. Is what we say true , helpful, or necessary? Of course this is not to say that we should never converse. That would be preposterous. The main point here is that every word we utter is like a feather dropped on a doorstep. Go back tomorrow after you've cooled down and see if that feather is still there to take back. It is gone with the wind for sure. Look before you leap, and think before you speak, my dear reading friend. Think about this also: "If one gives answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame" (Proverbs 18: 13).
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