Topics: Gentleness; Human Worth; Judging Others; Kindness; Self-control
References: Proverbs 15:1; 1 Corinthians 13:1–3; Galatians 5:22–23
I once questioned a state trooper presented with an “Outstanding Trooper” award about what the governor said when presenting the award. “He said you haven’t once roughed up a drunk or used excessive force on anyone. How can you be a state trooper for fifteen years, dealing with the kind of stuff you deal with, and have that happen?”
“Two things,” the trooper said. “First, if I am called to break up a fight at a tavern, I never say to myself, ‘There’s a drunk’; I always say to myself, ‘There’s a man—someone’s husband, someone’s son, someone’s neighbor—who got drunk.’ I try to think of him as a man, not a crime.
“Secondly, the Bible says that a soft answer turns away wrath. So whenever I walk up to the window of an automobile, I always speak a little softer than the person I’m speaking to.”
—Jay Kesler, in the sermon “Families That Succeed,” Focus on the Family Ministries