The Holey Shirt

At the end of one of my 2pm work days, I come home, play with the dogs, and change out of my work uniform into street clothes. This time something went awry. I simply forgot that I had a gray t-shirt on my bed that was soiled with a spot of food.

As I transformed into my normal self from a Utility Worker, from my side vision I saw Lola (the larger, more assertive female of the canine group of three) chewing on something. I turned out to be the piece of clothing mentioned above.

 The hole, where the stain had been, caused me to angrily yell, “Bad girl.” Lola did not understand my words, but the expression on my face and in my voice were clear to her that she had not pleased me.

I told you that adorable story to lead up to this question.  How do you react when something unpleasant happens? Do you get irritable and physically (or verbally) violent?  Do you get silent and shoot dirty stares at the offenders? What does your reaction say about you?

 Do you want mutual conflict resolution with all involved parties? Proverbs 15:1 of The Message says, “A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.” So next time you are in an argument with someone, consider this. Is the issue worth the verbal explosion? Try whispering, and see how long the disagreement continues. God loves you, and wants an acceptable solution to whatever the issue is.