19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1)
We know that "A soft answer turns away wrath" - that how we react to another person who is angry will determine a lot of what happens in the situation, and, more importantly, in that relationship. Yet we keep falling into the trap: we react with like anger, and things quickly escalate, the encounter erodes, and those words we talked about yesterday bite us. So what are we to do? It all goes back to resolving ahead of time that we will open our hearts and ears, and take our tongues out of gear to listen not only to the person, but to the Holy Spirit. In a culture where quick whit and rapid response are glorified, this is counter-cultural, but it is essential for the building up of community and one another in the Body of Christ. Before you begin your day, change gears and open your ears.
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