Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Anger”
Our Bible verse for today: “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.” Proverbs 15:1
Our thought for today: “What you say and how you say it can either help or hurt.”
When it comes to maintaining healthy relationships with other people, few things are more important than good communication. How we relate to others – how we treat them, what we say to them, and how we say it, matters a lot. Studies conducted on the subject of effective interpersonal skills reveal that up to 80% of success in life is linked to how effectively you communicate with others.
The question isn’t whether or not you will communicate with others (you will); the question is only how effectively you will do it. Even if you’re silent or ignore them completely, you have still communicated with them and that communication, be it good or bad, has a direct impact on the quality of your relationship with that person.
If anger is allowed to enter into our communication with others it can have a poisonous effect and make the situation much worse. That’s why the Bible writer James cautions us to be slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19). Once the words are spoken, it’s hard to take them back.
A wise person thinks before they speak and they choose their words carefully. That’s especially important in situations where heated emotions are involved and the chance of misunderstanding and hurt is high. At a time like that your words will either help or hurt. A gentle answer can calm things down and turn anger away. A harsh word will stir things up and make the situation worse.
One of the greatest skills a godly man or woman can develop is the ability to express him or herself in a non-abrasive manner – especially in tense situations. We all know people who have sharp edges to their personalities and a sharp tongue to go along with those sharp edges. Add to that a short temper, and then put them around a person with thin-skin who is easily offended, and there will be a problem brewing. (By the way, sharp-tongued people and thin-skinned people are both part of the problem.)
As we continue to consider ways to understand and deal with the problem of anger, I want to encourage all of us to pay more attention to what we say and to how we say it. Both content and tone matter.
Tomorrow we will explore the issue of effective communication a little further. Are you a talker or a listener? You actually need to be both but one matters more than the other and there is a proper order.
God bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 