Gold Nugget 342 - The Peacemakers
You cannot extinguish the conflagration, but you can stamp out the spark; you cannot stop the flow of the river, but you can dam the rill with the palm of your hand. You cannot heal a great schism, but you can appease a personal dispute; or, what is better, you can recall the offensive word you have yourself spoken; or, what is better still, you can repress the rising thought, you can call in to your aid other thoughts which calm and soothe the soul; you can remember him who “bore such contradiction of sinners against himself,” who “as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth,” and you can maintain a magnanimous silence. When this is no longer possible, because the first inciting word has been uttered and resented, then let there be an earnest and determined effort to quell all heat in your own heart, and to pacify the one whose anger has been aroused. “Blessed are the peacemakers …
The Pulpit Commentary, Proverbs p. 345-346, Proverbs 17:14, (W. Clarkson)
See also: Matthew 5:25; Romans 12:18
Gold Nugget 342
The Peacemakers
