Tuesday Truth

From Daily Wisdom for Mothers

"A gentle answer turns away wrath." Proverbs 15:1

I recently saw a T-shirt with the printing "Love is my final answer" on it. I thought that was pretty good.Think about it. When you answer with love, you give strife no place to go.

The other day, Abby wanted to go boating with her friend. Normally we would say yes to this request, but this was a holiday weekend. And, according to the news reports, there would be many alcohol-filled boaters on the lake. We just didn't have peace about it, so we told Abby, "No, not this time."

Abby really wanted to go, so she began retaliating in a big way. It was ugly. As she huffed and puffed, I decided to try out the "love answer." So I said, "Abby, honey, we love you too much to let something bad happen to you. There will be lots of drunken boaters out there today, and we just aren't willing to take that chance. You are too precious to us." To my surprise, she was okay with that answer. While she was disappointed that she couldn't go to the lake, she understood our reasons and resumed normal behavior. Wow! I didn't even have to raise my voice or threaten to ground her!

Let love be your final answer today. It really works!

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Though it isn't always this easy with little ones, reminding yourself to answer with love is always a great thing to strive for. If I tried to explain something like this to Libby, she wouldn't fully understand. What she does understand, however, is my tone and my face, and whether I am speaking in love or in frustration or anger.

What a great reminder! I encourage you to make love your final answer, hard as it may be sometimes. For me, it may mean going into my pantry, sticking my head out the window to breath in the cold air and praying for a few minutes, and then coming back to answer with love.

How do you make love your final answer?