A Gentle Answer

"A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare." Proverbs 15:1

I had a friend once who had four young children. They would come over to our house for a visit and the kids would behave, well, the way you would expect kids to behave at that age. What stood out to me, though, was that I never once witnessed mom raising her voice to her rambunctious little ones. instead, she would gently call the offenders to her side and very quietly point out what needed correcting and what she expected of each of them. I would watch in awe as the anger would deflect and tempers would become level once again.

My mom used to say, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.” I witnessed this truth by the example set by this young mother. You and I have the power to avoid situations that could potentially escalate to anger and tempers flaring simply by the words we choose and the tone in which we choose to present them.