“A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
Words have consequences – it’s a popular phrase these days.
The Bible speaks to the importance of words. God knew as humans with a sin-nature, we would often say hurtful things. James 3 talks about how difficult it is to tame the tongue.
It’s common knowledge when two people share the same space, they can get on each other’s nerves. Whether you are friends, roommates, or married, it happens.
I’ll be honest, my husband has habits which annoy me. There I said it. He would say the same about me.
My husband has a routine of removing his socks and rolling each of them into a ball before shooting them into the hamper like a basketball.
This frustrates me because when they go through the wash and come out the dryer, they are still in the same ball. They are neither clean nor dry because they went through the whole process in a wad. As a result, I have to straighten them out and put them back in the laundry.
Sure, it's a small thing but quickly turns into a BIG thing.
One particular day, I unloaded what I thought was everything out of the dryer. I was about to walk away when I saw one brown ball in the back.
It was enough to set me off. After all, if he can’t remember to straighten his socks out before they hit the hamper, it’s obvious he doesn’t love me (I know, a little dramatic).
I started to let my anger out in a flood of words. He looked me straight in the eye and very calmly stated “love is patient, love is kind.” He was right which made it worse!
My harsh words, along with some eye rolling and heavy sighs, were stirring up anger. His gentle words were pouring water on my fire.
The words from Proverbs were right, gentleness and kindness can diffuse a situation quickly and should be used often during times of turmoil within a relationship.
After all, socks are just socks.
Dear Lord, please help the words that come from my mouth today be pleasing to you and reflect your love.