Whatever you give, whatever service you perform, do it on My behalf. Do it in the Name of God and in the Name of Love. Be generous. Be gentle. Be gentle with all souls. At the very least, be a blessing to yourself.

Never mind righteous anger. Fury does not become you.

Life is not about raising your self-esteem. Life is not about showing you are worth as much or more than another. Your life is not about proving anything. You don't have to be drawn into drama. You can change the dynamics of your interchange with others who share life on Earth with you no matter how unreasonable others may seem to be or even prove they are.

Your life is more than about pride or gaining respect from seeming others. Others do not have to defer to you. You are not the King of the Mountain nor are you to be a warden of the world.

Your life is about serving. Serve Me. Serve Me with good nature. Good-naturedness is something that you are to offer to those around you. How you serve Me is by serving others. How you serve yourself is by serving others. No matter how subtly you may be disregarding others or outright stomping on them, you are dishonoring yourself and the great big world out there.

Learn other ways to deal with what offends you. Your habits in life have a bearing on the life around you. Look again.

I gave you Custody of the World. I did not give you a role as rule-maker. Be an exponent of how life in the world is meant to be lived. Use your quiet voice. Correct yourself and not so much others.

I do not ask you to fake love. No, do not fake love. In truth -- if you are quarrelsome -- you are faking antagonism. Antagonism is not true. Antagonism is some kind of shield or weapon that you mistakenly believe you need as a defense to stave off condescension or perhaps, in some instances, to even keep love away from you. If you did not feel threatened, why would you duel with others and try to come out on top? What is it that seems to make you feel that you must get the better of another human being? Is it such a great thing to be a blown-up top dog?

Rather than retaliate, initiate. Initiate a new approach.

Pause a moment. If you were not reactive, how then would you respond to a situation you do not welcome? For sure, you would respond rather than react.

If you were not reactive, how would you bolster the love in your own heart? It is not so much another's antagonism that you have to deal with. It is your own antagonism that needs your attention. Life is trying to teach you to respond rather than react. Life isn't trying to teach you to be a hothead.

When you have eaten a hot chili pepper and your mouth and throat feel aflame, rather than railing against chili peppers, you know enough to take a cooling drink of water.

Look for other ways of meeting strife. If not peaceful, at least, you do not have to be a bomb ready to go off.

What if, when someone raises his voice at you, you could lower yours?

What if you could walk away from old patterns of reacting? What prevents you?

If someone is rude to you, what law is it that says you must be as rude or ruder in order to make others respect you?

When you lash out, what do think you gain? Gain your own self-respect, and, then, how will you deal with the world that it has been said, mistakenly, lies outside you?