“Proper Pacifism”

Proverbs 15: 18: “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger pacifies contention.” This may come as a shock to some, but needless contention is not a virtue. Nothing feeds and provokes a contentious heart more than an uncontrolled temper; as a later proverb says, “The beginning of strife is like letting out water (once you pull the plug, it’s hard to get it back in!), so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out. (Proverbs 17: 14) But the ill-tempered have a problem with that; they never met a quarrel they didn’t like. The solution: Get hold of your temper, and eliminate the contention.