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Proverbs 26:21
Coal glows, and wood burns. And a person who argues stirs up conflict.
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Proverbs 29:22
An angry person stirs up fights. And a person with a bad temper commits many sins.
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Matthew 5:9
Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called children of God.
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Proverbs 14:29
Anyone who is patient has great understanding. But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish they are.
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Ecclesiastes 10:4
Suppose a ruler gets very angry with you. If he does, don’t quit your job in the palace. Being calm can overcome what you have done against him.
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Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns anger away. But mean words stir up anger.
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Proverbs 28:25
People who always want more stir up conflict. But those who trust in the Lord will succeed.
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Proverbs 16:28
A twisted person stirs up conflict. Anyone who talks about others separates close friends.
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James 3:14-16
But suppose your hearts are jealous and bitter. Suppose you are concerned only about getting ahead. Then don’t brag about it. And don’t say no to the truth.Wisdom like this doesn’t come down from heaven. It belongs to the earth. It doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit. It comes from the devil.Are you jealous? Are you concerned only about getting ahead? Then your life will be a mess. You will be doing all kinds of evil things.
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James 1:19-20
My dear brothers and sisters, pay attention to what I say. Everyone should be quick to listen. But they should be slow to speak. They should be slow to get angry.Human anger doesn’t produce the holy life God wants.
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Acts 6:1-5
In those days the number of believers was growing. The Greek Jews complained about the non- Greek Jews. They said that the widows of the Greek Jews were not being taken care of. They weren’t getting their fair share of food each day.So the 12 apostles gathered all the believers together. They said,“ It wouldn’t be right for us to give up teaching God’s word. And we’d have to stop teaching to wait on tables.Brothers and sisters, choose seven of your men. They must be known as men who are wise and full of the Holy Spirit. We will turn this important work over to them.Then we can give our attention to prayer and to teaching God’s word.”This plan pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen. He was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmenas were chosen too. The group also chose Nicolas from Antioch. He had accepted the Jewish faith.
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1 Samuel 25 24-1 Samuel 25 44
She fell at his feet. She said,“ Pardon your servant, sir. Please let me speak to you. Listen to what I’m saying. Let me take the blame myself.Please don’t pay any attention to that evil man Nabal. His name means Foolish Person. And that’s exactly what he is. He’s always doing foolish things. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see the men you sent.Sir, the Lord has kept you from killing Nabal and his men. He has kept you from using your own hands to get even. So may what’s about to happen to Nabal happen to all your enemies. May it happen to everyone who wants to harm you. And may it happen just as surely as the Lord your God and you are alive.I’ve brought a gift for you. Give it to the men who follow you.“ Please forgive me if I shouldn’t have done that. The Lord your God will certainly give you and your family line a kingdom that will last. That’s because you fight the Lord’ s battles. You won’t do anything wrong as long as you live.Someone may chase you and try to kill you. But the Lord your God will keep your life safe like a treasure hidden in a bag. And he’ll destroy your enemies. Their lives will be thrown away, just as a stone is thrown from a sling.The Lord will do for you every good thing he promised to do. He’ll appoint you ruler over Israel.When that happens, you won’t have this heavy load on your mind. You won’t have to worry about how you killed people without any reason. You won’t have to worry about how you got even. The Lord your God will give you success. When that happens, please remember me.”David said to Abigail,“ Give praise to the Lord. He is the God of Israel. He has sent you today to find me.May the Lord bless you for what you have done. You have shown a lot of good sense. You have kept me from killing Nabal and his men this day. You have kept me from using my own hands to get even.It’s a good thing you came quickly to meet me. If you hadn’t come, not one of Nabal’s men would have been left alive by sunrise. And that’s just as sure as the Lord, the God of Israel, is alive. He has kept me from harming you.”Then David accepted from her what she had brought him. He said,“ Go home in peace. I’ve heard your words. I’ll do what you have asked.”Abigail went back to Nabal. He was having a dinner party in the house. It was the kind of dinner a king would have. He had been drinking too much wine. He was very drunk. So she didn’t tell him anything at all until sunrise.The next morning Nabal wasn’t drunk anymore. Then his wife told him everything. When she did, his heart grew weak. He became like a stone.About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal down. And he died.David heard that Nabal was dead. So he said,“ Give praise to the Lord. Nabal was rude to me. But the Lord stood up for me. He has kept me from doing something wrong. He has paid Nabal back for the wrong things he did.” Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to become his wife.His servants went to Carmel. They said to Abigail,“ David has sent us to you. He wants you to come back with us and become his wife.”Abigail bowed down with her face toward the ground. She said,“ I am your servant. I’m ready to serve him. I’m ready to wash the feet of his servants.”Abigail quickly got on a donkey and went with David’s messengers. Her five female servants went with her. She became David’s wife.David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel. Both of them became his wives.But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s first wife, to Paltiel. Paltiel was from Gallim. He was the son of Laish.
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Genesis 13:8-9
So Abram said to Lot,“ Let’s not argue with each other. The people taking care of your herds and those taking care of mine shouldn’t argue with one another either. After all, we’re part of the same family.Isn’t the whole land in front of you? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
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Judges 8:1-3
The men of Ephraim asked Gideon,“ Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you ask us to help you when you went out to fight against Midian?” In anger they challenged Gideon.But he answered them,“ What I’ve done isn’t anything compared to what you have done. Ephraim’s grapes have been gathered. Isn’t what is left over better than all the grapes that have been gathered from Abiezer’s vines?God handed Oreb and Zeeb over to you. They were Midianite leaders. So what was I able to do compared to what you did?” After Gideon had said that, they didn’t feel angry with him anymore.
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Proverbs 10:12
Hate stirs up fights. But love erases all sins by forgiving them.
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Proverbs 25:15
If you are patient, you can win an official over to your side. And gentle words can break a bone.
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2 Samuel 19 43-2 Samuel 20 1
Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah. They said,“ We have ten of the 12 tribes in the kingdom. So we have a stronger claim on David than you have. Why then are you acting as if you hate us? Weren’t we the first ones to talk about bringing back our king?” But the men of Judah argued their side even more forcefully than the men of Israel.An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,“ We don’t have any share in David’s kingdom! Jesse’s son is not our king! Men of Israel, every one of you go back home!”