A calm answer placates ire. When a person is nervous or irritated and comes to his meeting with “8 rocks in hand,” a calm answer will toss out of him the furor and the will to fight. The serene and soft answer breaks discord. Therefore, the opposite is also true. A hard word stirs anger. If someone is with much rage, and you come to them with hard words, and, even with rage, you will respond with the same tone, you will stir the furor in his heart and prejudice will be able to touch you two and even others that you  love. All because of a word of anger and discord.

Which is the road for us who have the Holy Spirit inside of the heart? A calm, true response filled with honey or a hard and cruel answer?

We have to learn to converse, speaking certain words that calm the heart. Knowing to converse is not only speaking, but also to know not to say a wrong word in the hour of anger.

Conversation opens the heart for love and for comprehension. The dialog has the power to cure the interior wounds and give the chance for all to be understood.

God dialogues with us through Jesus. This marvelous truth makes us understand that the true dialogue happens when we put the Lord in our midst. Therefore, when we are conversion with another person, we should use words of love, of true and mercy.

When a conversation is difficult, pray for the person, ask God for the wisdom, discernment to say the certain words and for courage, because to say the truth to another that attacked is  not easy, but does not need to be aggressive.

If you want to do the certain thing or the good thing, is you do not want to lose joy of the heart and peace of soul, you should care not be remain irritated. Be it for whatever reason, do not open your heart to rage, because after it enters your heart, you cannot get rid of it all. The more you can avoid this uncontrolled emotions, the better you will be. Avoid them also to avoid health problems.

See what the Word says: “A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue injures the heart.” (proverbs 15:4)

The even should not enter into  your life. The first thing that you should do to conquer your bad feelings  in the hour of anger is to divert your attention and calm yourself. When one does not want to, two do not fight. In the moment you are nervous remain quiet and think of another thing. The second thing to do is to turn to God, because to Him belongs the power to maintain your heart in peace.

If,through a distraction, rage inters your heart, you should work to calm yourself and, afterwards, with all humility, have humble gestures and words to reconcile with the other person.

When there is no reconciliation, the land remain open to the sowing of discord. Therefore, we do not have to act as the Word says: “The tongue of the wise makes wisdom and knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish vomits ignorance.” (Prov 15:2) We need to learn with Jesus to overcome evil with good.

When you treat someone that hurts you with love and kindness, you are doing before the evil. Love brings the  other to conversion.

God asks that we are good. We begin through the words that calm. Nothing edifies as much as treating the other with kindness and love. And if we remain keep ourselves like this we are not going to sadden the Holy Spirit. And if He is happy with us, our joy is not going to end.

“In every place the eyes of Yahweh see the bad and the good.” (Prov. 15:3) The Lord sees  all things. If you play with the arms and begin to use the arms of love, you are going to to be able to count on God always and you are going to experience the tree of live. Begin through words that calm.

“Give us the grace to live these words, Lord. Your word is the tree of live, calm the heart and replace our anger. Give us the certainty that you, Lord, are not going to stop seeing us and that you support us in all. Blessed be God. “

Márcio Mendes

Member of the Canção Nova Community

translated from Portuguese