Bible Reading: Proverbs 15:1-4; Ephesians 4:31-32

"You're always messing up this room," Hannah said as she pushed her sister's things off the dresser. "You're such a pig!"

"You're the pig. And leave my things alone!" yelled Margo.

"Then keep your stuff off my side of the dresser!" Hannah shot back.

The fighting escalated, and soon Mom appeared at the door. "Girls! I'm tired of the constant bickering between you," she said sternly. "You are sisters, and you should respect each other. Follow me."

Hannah and Margo glared at each other as they followed their mother into the back hall and watched as she got out some towels and a bottle of cleaning solution. "Now," said Mom, "you are going to clean the big living room window until it looks like you could walk through it."

Hannah and Margo got to work. But the more solution they sprayed on the glass and rubbed with the towels, the streakier the window became.

"Mom!" Margo called. "There's something wrong with the spray you gave us."

"What's that?" Mom came in from the kitchen. "The solution I gave you isn't working?"

"It's just making it worse!" said Hannah.

"Well, your solution for solving disagreements isn't working either," said Mom. She came over and took the bottle she had given them. "This is all-purpose cleaner--it doesn't work on windows. And shouting and saying nasty things to each other doesn't work to solve disagreements."

The girls started to complain, but Mom cut them off.

"God has a much different solution," she said. "Instead of responding in anger, He says to give a soft answer. That means calmly talking through the problem and caring about the other person and what they have to say. Because you trust in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit to help you respond to others in a gentle, loving way--even when you don't agree with them." Mom went and got another bottle from the back hall. "Here, try this solution on the windows--it will work much better."

Hannah and Margo went back to their task and thought about what Mom had said. Finally, Hannah said, "I'm sorry I pushed your stuff off the dresser."

"I'm sorry too," said Margo. "I'll try to keep things neater."

After a few more wipes, the window was as clear as ever.

–Carol Baker