Conversations turn deep, positions get firmed up, arguments become heated, and sides get drawn. Sounds like the beginning of battle or a fight getting ready to happen? And yes, it can also be the scene found in a conference room or an office on any given day in corporate America. We get passionate about our work and we can take our passions and positions all the way to the point of boiling over. And yes, sometimes beyond with words and actions that are irrevocable. Once we do that, it is very hard to recover and we will find ourselves either out of work or trying to win back support just to get back to even. The key to not letting ourselves get to the point of no return is to constantly be in check with our attitude and spirit. We can feel it when it is getting ready to turn in the wrong direction. I recently received an email from someone who is the CEO of an organization and the note begged for an argument. It so happened that I received the email just before dinner time so I let it sit, went to dinner, came home, slept a good night’s sleep and answered the email in the morning in a totally different spirit than I had held the night before. Sometimes, it is best to know when to walk away. This past weekend at our church our Pastor spoke on how to be gentle in our lives. He taught of how Jesus told James and John that their spirit was wrong and it was time to model a different behavior and made them leave and go on to another village because their spirit was wrong for that place, “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them’. And they went to another village.” Jesus knew it was time to walk away. Let’s monitor ourselves in this way and when our spirit starts to turn ugly, be prepared to just walk away.

Reference: Luke 9:55-56 (New King James Version)