THINK TOGETHER.
How often do you yell at people? Do you use harsh words to get what you want?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 15:1. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
When I first became a school teacher there were times when one of my students would get upset with me and get loud and yell at me. At first I would yell back. I would raise my voice and try to match their loudness. But then I remembered today’s proverb. A soft answer was what I needed. I was trying to match harsh words with harsh words. And that would never work. It just stirred up more anger.
What about you? Do you try to match harsh words with harsh words? Or have you learned to speak softly? Speaking softly or gently doesn’t mean that you are agreeing with everything the other person is saying, but it does mean that we are respectful and kind. Yelling at mom or dad, your siblings, your friends, your teacher, has that ever made things better for you? I didn’t think so.
The Apostle Peter tells us the same thing as Solomon. He tells us to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus was ridiculed, made fun of, insulted, and yelled at, but he never once answered with harsh words, only soft answers. How could he do that? Because he knew that his Heavenly Father was on his side. And we know the same thing. Because God loves us we don’t have to get angry and yell. We can trust him and speak softly.
Because of Jesus we know that God is always on our side.
With Jesus we can stay calm and speak softly.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Make Proverbs 15:1 a family memory verse. Make some signs or cards with the verse on them to post around the house as a reminder to speak gently.
PRAY TOGETHER Jesus, if you had yelled and insulted you wouldn’t have been able to die for my sins. Thank you for your soft words that brought my salvation. Amen.
TLICfamily 