Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. (Proverbs 20:3 NLT) There might just be a few more fools in this world than there are wise at the moment. It seems everyone wants to quarrel about anything they don't like or agree with, doesn't it? The wise will do anything short of sin to avoid he quarrel, though. Why? It brings out things that never should be voiced, and it creates a set of circumstances that allow a 'build up' of things that should never be done. The fool speaks his mind without thought as to how the message will be received. He isn't concerned about the ones hearing it - he just insists on voicing it. The wise think first about who will hear their message and how it will affect those who do hear it. Perhaps the question we need to be asking is how we can avoid a quarrel when all around us there seem to be quarrelers. Choosing our words wisely is the beginning of wisdom in relating one to another. When we match this with ch...
God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. (Psalm 18:32, 35-36 NLT) There is no armor in this world that can prepare us for spiritual warfare. We must be armed with the strength of God himself. Our way of 'dealing' in life will always be to focus on our own self-sufficiency. God's plan is for us to move away from self-sufficiency and toward his sufficiency - it far outshines and outperforms our own! We want a shield that will provide us with the shelter we need from life's attacks, but we try to erect it ourselves and find it just doesn't work all that well. The shield of victory and the support of his right hand may not seem like much to somebody looking at this from a purely physical vantage point, but when seen from the realm of the spiritual vantage point, it is the only defense we w...