The Power of Pause
It wasn’t long after I posted a message on an atheist platform that my phone lit up with notifications. It started pinging so fast I couldn’t keep up. I expected pushback and disagreement, but one message in particular didn’t sit right with me. The reply was personal and disrespectful. Before I thought it through, I typed a response that matched their tone. As soon as I hit send I regretted it. I knew I hadn’t responded out of wisdom but out of emotion. By the time I went back to fix it, the damage of that quick reaction had already been done. He replied, “I thought Christians were supposed to be different and not trade insult for insult.” That moment showed something deeper than a bad reply. It showed how fast the flesh takes over when we feel attacked. In those instances, truth takes a back seat and pride takes over. We stop responding with wisdom and start defending ourselves. James 1:19 tells us to be slow to speak and slow to anger, but emotions flip that order in seconds. What sh...