When someone disagrees with you…

Another area to control our reactions is when someone disagrees with you, be tender without surrender.

The fact is, you can’t please everybody in life.  Just about the time you get Crowd A satisfied, Crowd B gets upset.  One minute you’re the hero, the next minute you’re the zero.  You need to learn to be tender without surrender. 

The test of maturity is how you handle disagreeable people, people who irritate you, people who like to contradict you, people who like to get in arguments, like to quarrel with you.  You have some alternatives:

One is you can retreat in fear.

Listen.  Meekness is not compromising your convictions.  You can be tender without surrender.  It’s not being passive, being a doormat, giving in, always letting the other person have their own way. That’s not meekness, that’s weakness.

Another one is you can attack in anger.

No, it’s also not reacting in anger.  It not when someone disagrees with you, you blow them away. 

Some people use verbal overkill, they explode people.  Everything is a win/lose situation. 

Gen. George S. Patton wrote a book called, Patton's Principles for Managers Who Mean It.  Got a lot of one-liners in it.  One is: You never fight a battle where winning doesn’t make any difference.  Don’t get into an argument over something that doesn’t matter anyway." 

Proverbs 15.1 (TEV), “A gentle answer quiets anger; but a harsh word stirs it up.”  

James 3.16-17 (CEV), “Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble... But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, and gentle…”

Notice the word, “gentle”.  That’s the same word as “meek”.  Meekness and gentleness means strength under control – a gentle giant. 

Just a thought from the front porch…