Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
“Get out!” Angela shrieked. “Leave me alone!”
Her little brother, Collin, was in her room for the tenth time that day. She had asked him and asked him to stay out, but still he came. And he didn’t even knock.
“You can’t make me!” Collin yelled back. Then he picked up her stuffed poodle and threw it across the room at her.
“Stop it! Leave my stuff alone!” she yelled, throwing a pillow at him. “Just go away!”
All of sudden, their mother appeared in the doorway. “What seems to be the problem?” asked Mrs. Stevens.
“Mom, Collin won’t get out of my room, and I’ve asked him a dozen times to leave me alone! He just barges in without permission.”
Mrs. Stevens looked at her son, waiting for an explanation.
“Mom, Angela won’t play with me. She never plays with me any more, and I just want her to come see the castle I built.” He fought to hold back tears, and his voice shook.
Mrs. Stevens let out a heavy sigh. “Well, the way I see it, you were both wrong. Collin, you know better than to go in your sister’s room without permission. Do you have anything you’d like to say to her?”
Collin looked at his sister. “I’m sorry,” he said.
The woman continued. “Angela, Collin was wrong to enter your room without permission. But you were wrong to yell at him. If you had taken the time to listen to him, perhaps he wouldn’t have kept coming back. And if you had explained to him nicely that you wanted to be left alone, I’ll bet he would have honored that.”
Angela took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Collin. What is it you wanted to show me?”
Collin’s face immediately cheered up. He took his sister by the hand and said, “Come on! You’re gonna think this is so cool . . .”
