by Alan Smith<\/p>\n
There was once an older man who went out for a jog. He was running around a track that circled the high school football field while the team was conducting its practice. When the football players began running their sprints up and down the field, the man said to himself, “I’ll just keep running until they quit.” So they ran. And he ran. And they kept on running. So he kept on running.<\/p>\n
Finally, in total exhaustion, the man had to stop. When he stopped, an equally exhausted football player walked over to him and said, “Boy, I’m glad you finally stopped, mister. Our coach told us that we had to keep running wind sprints as long as the old guy was jogging!”<\/p>\n
It seems to me that we can sometimes find ourselves in a similar kind of situation when it comes to anger and conflict. We have a disagreement with someone and get into an argument. Voices get raised. Neither side wants to be the first to give in, to stop speaking in anger. Everyone has the attitude, “I’ll just keep on till they quit.” So the other party stays mad. So we stay mad. And on we go, eventually finding ourselves emotionally and even physically exhausted by the ongoing animosity.<\/p>\n
Let me challenge you to do something challenging. The next time you get in an argument, be the first to give in. Be the first to stop the yelling and the name-calling. Be the first to say, “I’m sorry.” It’s the quickest way to stop the vicious cycle.<\/p>\n
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger<\/em>” (Proverbs 15:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Have a great day!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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When the football players began running their sprints up and down the field, the man said to himself, “I’ll just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[884,1200,1561],"class_list":["post-89096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-arguments","tag-disagreements","tag-peacemakers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94336,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-the-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":89096,"position":0},"title":"Running the Race","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong Text: Hebrews 12 Paul uses a lot of 'life illustrations' - body, temple, army, and sports. The writer of Hebrews now engages one of the sports illustrations - running. Personally, I dislike running (I prefer biking or other sports instead). But through the years have had to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-from-church-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":89096,"position":1},"title":"Running from Church Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Blackford When a church has problems, the first inclination is to run from it and find a perfect congregation that doesn't have problems. I know that feeling. I've had it too. 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My husband\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-away-and-running-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":89096,"position":4},"title":"Running Away and Running To","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall James 4:7-8 is taking on a more powerful meaning to me. Here's the text: \"Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 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