How easy is it to start an argument or a fight? Whether at school, at work or in your home, the right word, the right look, the right attitude, the right behavior or the right action can ignite an argument instantaneously. The wise man said, “It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel” (Prov. 20:3).
It doesn’t take much to start a quarrel – any fool can do that! But, it takes wisdom, patience and humility to “stop contention before a quarrel starts” (Prov. 17:14). “He who is slow to anger calms a dispute” (Prov. 15:18). Therefore, may each of us be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19), remembering that “a soft answer turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1).
What can you do to “stop contention before a quarrel starts”? What can you do to change from an argument-instigator to an argument-exterminator? Are you “any fool”? Or, are you one who seeks wise counsel from the Lord?