Solomon now gives advice to the servant, the soldier, the employee or anyone under authority. If you make a mistake that causes anger and rebuke to arise in your master, your commander, your boss or any leader, do not respond with rash behavior. Instead, remain calm and continue at your job.
The opposite of “calmness” could be any of a variety of inappropriate responses: fear, anger, quitting, blaming, etc. All of these would be a failure and could make a resolution to the problem impossible.
- Calmness gives you time to think. What can you do to fix the problem?
- Calmness keeps you at your post managing your responsibilities. Doing the job you were assigned to do is commendable every time.
- Calmness gives the angered authority time to reevaluate their response to you. Was their judgment correct? Did they overreact? Do they really want to lose your productivity? Remember people in authority are also human and sometimes need to rethink their position.
In any case, Solomon is right when he says, your “calmness can lay great offenses to rest.”
And, the opposite is true! Your overreacting in fear, anger or with a letter of resignation can create another problem, besides making the original situation irreparable.
Solomon’s speaks in a similar fashion in these Proverbs:
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