The Plumbline

If you have ever found yourself getting into the middle of someone else's argument, then you know how messed up things can become for YOU in just a short period of time!  What started out as an innocent concern for someone else's well-being ended up becoming quite a mess for you to mop up in your own life!  How do we get wrapped up in these things?  Well, if we were to be totally honest, most of us haven't really gotten past our tendency to want to "be in the know" about stuff, so we meddle!  Meddlers pay the price - often with a little skin off their own backsides!  Meddling is just a polite word for saying we like to get the scoop, or have something to gossip about.  In fact, this burning desire to either be in the middle of the situation, or to have the hair-brained idea that we know how to solve the issue we don't even own is what propels us forward even when common sense is telling us to stay away! Perhaps it is time to consider just how much extra st...

I think we all have times when we just cannot avoid the quarrel - we step into it like we might just find an old piece of chewing gum on the bottom of our shoe after walking through the parking lot.  We did not intend to step on the gum - it was so small and almost unnoticeable on the ground.  Sure enough, the sticky goo latches onto the bottom of our shoe - and we are left with the mess of cleaning it up.  That one tiny piece of gum can leave a huge spot of sticky residue, can't it?  If not caught quickly, we can track it into our cars, leaving the sticky mess attached to floorboard carpeting, foot pedals, and the like.  Quarrels are a little like the chewing gum in the parking lot - no one really thinks about the consequences of just throwing something down.  We cast things around like they will not affect others, but in truth, what we think will go unnoticed and not really be all that harmful has the potential of becoming a huge mess with a lot of residu...

3  It's a mark of good character to avert quarrels,    but fools love to pick fights.  (Proverbs 20:3) Ever run across an individual that just seems contrary in all they do?  There is just no pleasing them - they find fault with everything and love to quarrel over the silliest of things.  There is a word for these type of individuals - fools!  Solomon makes it quite plain that a fool loves to pick a fight.  It is a mark of honor (of good character) to avoid a fight.  I am not implying that we actually live in a state of existence where we go through life without ever saying a cross word or entering into constructive debate periodically.  Yet, a man or woman of good character knows that insisting on a quarrel is not a sign of wisdom. It is a good thing to overlook the small things in life.  There is a saying I heard some time ago that has stuck with me:  "Is this the hill you want to die on?"  In other words, is thi...

17  You grab a mad dog by the ears    when you butt into a quarrel that's none of your business.  (Proverbs 26:17) Our passage today is pretty plain - stay out of other people's business!  When we butt into where we have no business being, we often find it is like taking hold of a rabid dog - we get bit!  This is a good lesson to learn, but a tough one to learn.  It easy to get caught up in the business of another.  Sometimes we do just because we "want to be in the know".  Other times it is because we "want to rescue" someone who is in the middle of a muddle.  Whatever the reason, we would do well to consider the consequences before we "step in the middle" of what we never belonged in in the first place! 20  When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;     when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down. (Proverbs 26:20) The passage goes on to remind us of the power of our words.  When we "stoke" the fires ...