Arguing about issues isn’t the same thing as thinking about them. We need to think. Are you going to argue and insult people or are you going to think and inspire them? If what you believe makes you act mad and miserable, who’s going to want to agree with you?

It’s hard to break thru barriers that people have built in their head, but humility and kindness sneak around the hindrance and touch their heart. When I’m wrong, I need to lose the argument. If I win it, it only takes me further into deception.

People aren’t “peaceful” or “violent.” Kindness and compassion draw out peace. Making people feel safe, respected, and loved, tends to bring forth their best. However, disrespect and arrogance provoke violence. Making people feel fear, pain, and threatened is a major cause of violence.

Disrespect and demanding the upper hand escalate potentially violent situations. Respect and calmness de-escalate them. Enemy lives matter. That’s why Jesus tells us to love them. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, also said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and “Turn the other cheek.”

Both violence and kindness change hearts. Kindness softens hearts. Violence hardens them with bitterness, hatred, and revenge. When an argument goes in a circle, it goes no place, at a faster and faster pace.

When you begin to connect with people heart to heart, their defenses come down and you can see and appreciate their humanity. Sometimes the best argument is to show kindness to the person who is trying to argue with you.

If you feel a need to get angry, get angry at the evil hiding within you. Get mad enough to find it, overcome it, and drive it out. I think many people argue, not to persuade others, but because they feel their own opinion is threatened by other people’s views.

Using violence to defend our pride is nothing to be proud about. It has caused far too much human suffering for that. Colliding egos cause consternation. Humbly trying to find the truth restores peace. Just because you verbally or physically bully someone into silence and appear to win a political fight, doesn’t mean that your views are right.

The best protection and freedom from fear isn’t a gun. It’s hearing, following, obeying and trusting the risen Jesus.