Keep your mouth shut, when you used to blurt out a reaction.

good-fruit

David Powlison in Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness, gives the following examples that I found helpful regarding the “good fruit” of wisdom.

  1. Keep your mouth shut, when you used to blurt out a reaction.
  2. Listen, when you used to be busy crafting a comeback.
  3. Speak up courageously, when you used to get intimidated.
  4. Embed any specific criticism of another in both appropriate commendation and Christ-centered optimism.
  5. Treat people fairly, representing them accurately and recognizably; no gross caricatures.
  6. Speak accurately and abandon prejudicial language: “always” and “never” are rarely true and are invariably more destructive than constructive.
  7. Speak calmly, rather than with gusts of inflammatory emotion.
  8. Speak frankly, rather than inhibited by timidity.
  9. Raise an issue you used to swallow.
  10. Overlook an offense you used to explode over.
  11. Solve the problem, rather than attacking the person.
  12. Expect to see Christ work, rather than despairing or panicking when troubles come.
  13. Replace harsh words that stir up anger with gentle answers.

I think this is a great list to work through as you pray to God and ask Him to work in your life to more faithfully exude His wisdom.

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