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State Trooper Uses Biblical Principles to Keep His Cool

Jay Kesler, former president of Taylor University, told about a state trooper who was awarded an "Outstanding Trooper" award.

Kesler, who attended the same church as the trooper, said to him, "The governor said that in 15 years as a trooper, you haven't once roughed up a drunk or used excessive force on anyone. How can you be a state trooper for 15 years, dealing with the kind of stuff you deal with, and have that happen?"

"Well, I guess two things," the trooper responded. "First, if I am called to break up a fight at a tavern, I never say to myself, There's a drunk. I always say to myself, There's a man—someone's husband, someone's son, someone's neighbor—who got drunk. So I always try to think of him as a man, not a crime.

"Secondly, the Bible says that a soft answer turns away wrath. So whenever I walk up to the window of an automobile, I always speak a little lower than the person I'm speaking to."

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