“A soft answer turns away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

Recently I witnessed firsthand the power of “soft words.” As I drove down one of our city streets, a pickup truck was stopped quite a distance from the curb. A man was standing way over the middle of the lane as he talked with the driver of the truck. The problem was that a van was parked in my driving lane so that while I knew there was just enough room through which I could pass, it would be a very, very narrow passage. I would miss the pedestrian and parked van by only several inches. I slowed to a stop, thinking they would move over. They didn’t. To my amazement the man in the truck started screaming and gesturing. He instantly became enraged. As I slowly crawled past him, I could have escalated the situation by calling them both knuckleheads (which not only wouldn’t have been wise, it wouldn’t have been very spiritual either!) Rather, I spoke calmly and quietly and said to them, “Sorry, boys, I’m not as a good a driver as I used to be.” With that quiet answer the rage was gone in an instant. The fellow behind the wheel instantly quieted down and said, “Oh. Sorry man. You’re doing great. You’re making it.” I realize that road rage doesn’t always turn out like this; however, in what situation today will you need to use your soft answers?

For today: May I be wise in how I treat people today. May I not be one that stirs up anger.