{"id":6235,"date":"2013-05-02T01:00:25","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T08:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/?p=6235"},"modified":"2013-05-08T13:57:09","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T20:57:09","slug":"how-to-end-an-argument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/","title":{"rendered":"How to End an Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1395\" title=\"Child-taking-toy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Child-taking-toy.jpg\" alt=\"Child taking toy\" width=\"500\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Child-taking-toy.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Child-taking-toy-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><em>&#8220;A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.&#8221;<\/em> (Proverbs 15:1, ESV)<\/p>\n<p>If more than one person lives in your household, you will have disagreements.<\/p>\n<p>If more than one <em>child<\/em> lives your household, you&#8217;ll have quite a few disagreements.<\/p>\n<p>If more than one <em>young<\/em> child lives in your household, some days will feel like <em>all<\/em> you have is disagreements.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s because the people in your household are sinners, and little children are little sinners who need <em>lots<\/em> of instruction.<\/p>\n<p>One simple way to help a child learn to end an argument is to <em>train<\/em> him to <strong>answer softly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Memorize<\/strong> Proverbs 15:1 with him.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Talk about the verse\u00a0together.<\/strong> What happens when we answer softly? What happens when we respond with harsh words?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Talk about specific times <\/strong>when he has responded kindly and when he has responded harshly. Which was better?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Talk about Jesus<\/strong> and the soft answers He gave when being wronged. Remind your child \u00a0that Jesus loved him so much that He was even willing to die rather than fight back against those who wanted to kill Him. Jesus&#8217; death (and resurrection) are what gives him the strength to be kind, too. Jesus will help him.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Role play<\/strong> and coach him through imaginary disagreements. What can he say if his little brother grabs his toy and starts screaming? Do this during a rational, peaceful moment instead of waiting until the fight is in progress. Help him prepare for the inevitable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">If he&#8217;s old enough, have him <strong>draw a picture<\/strong> of himself and a sibling, add some dialogue bubbles and have him dictate what he should say when wronged, while you write it down for him. Post his picture in a prominent place.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Start the day <strong>praying together<\/strong> for the strength to answer softly when wronged.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">In the midst of a real-life disagreement, take the time to <strong>stop and pray<\/strong> together. Then help him respond with a soft answer. (You may want to include the offender, as well. And of course, the offender needs instruction, too.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">When you overhear him responding on his own with a soft answer, <strong>encourage him<\/strong> and stop to thank God for helping him answer in a God-pleasing way. Or talk about his response later in the day, offering encouragement and thanking God for His grace. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">And don&#8217;t forget to set a good example for your child! Pray for the grace to answer <em>him <\/em>softly when you would rather be impatient and harsh, and show him how to respond graciously by the way you speak to others. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtsocial-container rtsocial-container-align-left rtsocial-icon\"><div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon \"> <div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-button\"><a title=\"Share: How to End an Argument\" class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2013%2F05%2F02%2Fhow-to-end-an-argument%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-button\"><a title=\"Tweet: How to End an Argument\" class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=How%20to%20End%20an%20Argument&via=@doorposts&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2013%2F05%2F02%2Fhow-to-end-an-argument%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-button\"><a class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/&media=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rtsocial\/images\/default-pinterest.png&description=How to End an Argument\" target= \"_blank\" title=\"Pin: How to End an Argument\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"perma-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/\" title=\"How to End an Argument\"><\/a><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rts_id\" class=\"rts_id\" value=\"6235\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"rts_media_nonce\" name=\"rts_media_nonce\" value=\"aa2ec4fb13\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\" \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.&#8221; (Proverbs 15:1, ESV) If more than one person lives in your household, you will have disagreements. If more than one child lives your household, you&#8217;ll have quite a few disagreements. If more than one young child lives in your household, some days will feel like all you have is disagreements. That&#8217;s because the people in your household [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtsocial-container rtsocial-container-align-left rtsocial-icon\"><div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon \"> <div class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-button\"><a title=\"Share: How to End an Argument\" class=\"rtsocial-fb-icon-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2013%2F05%2F02%2Fhow-to-end-an-argument%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-button\"><a title=\"Tweet: How to End an Argument\" class=\"rtsocial-twitter-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=How%20to%20End%20an%20Argument&via=@doorposts&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.doorposts.com%2Fblog%2F2013%2F05%2F02%2Fhow-to-end-an-argument%2F\" target= \"_blank\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon\"> <div class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-button\"><a class=\"rtsocial-pinterest-icon-link\" href= \"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/&media=https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rtsocial\/images\/default-pinterest.png&description=How to End an Argument\" target= \"_blank\" title=\"Pin: How to End an Argument\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"perma-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/\" title=\"How to End an Argument\"><\/a><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"rts_id\" class=\"rts_id\" value=\"6235\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"rts_media_nonce\" name=\"rts_media_nonce\" value=\"aa2ec4fb13\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\" \/><\/div><a role=\"link\" class=\"rtp-readmore\" title=\"Read more on How to End an Argument\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/how-to-end-an-argument\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read More \u2192<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[134,9,25,27,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6235"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6254,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6235\/revisions\/6254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}