It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; But every fool will be quarreling.
Oh dear another verse about quarreling. Why do these pop up so often in Proverbs?!
Actually in my home I can truly say (very thankfully!) that strife and quarreling is very minimal. I am so thankful that God has brought me to a place in my life where I (finally) don't have to deal with the stress that strife causes.
I have already shared before that when I read a verse like this my mind immediately thinks about a certain family member. In fact my birth family is all about that strife stuff. Have you heard the phrase, "If these walls could talk.."? Well the walls of my childhood home would tell horror stories. And the walls of my grandparents' home would as well. To this day I just do not understand why all the fighting? Especially from a "Christian" home. Well I do understand actually but I won't get into that here. We all know what happens when our focus is not on Christ.
I found this quote on studylight.org: There is no greater damage to human personality than that which is accomplished by a quarrelsome disposition.
Boy, isn't that the truth?
I would like us to read 2 Timothy 2: 24-25 and I feel that it is so important to today's topic at hand that I am going to type it out because I am afraid that you won't turn to it otherwise:
The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.
I'm with you on the quarreling thing. Thank goodness there isn't much of that in my home either. I'm all about fleeing from conflict. I avoid it at all cost most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI bet Solomon had a lot of conflict with so many wives. I wonder if that's where he got his inspiration. LOL!
I would hope and pray that I am "patient when wronged and kind to all."
I never got to post my closing thoughts....lol...you all can think Mr toddler for that.
ReplyDeleteI too grew up in a quarrelsome home, that left me with an acute discomfort of raised or loud voices, even if they aren't raised in anger. But it seems that quarrelsomeness is contagious. I find that at work, if one person is being quarrelsome, it affects everyone else, and we soon all become complainers and whiners, including this poor weak soul. I'll pray for a gentle, patient and kind disposition from now on.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand quarreling and conflict...just not in my personality! I'm so glad that you added that verse - so much important stuff there! Did you notice there is only one "don't"? (That's be quarrelsome.) All of the others are "do's"...be kind, teach, be patient and gentle. I need to pay attention to that list. :)
ReplyDeleteI have found that sometimes it is best to keep your body and mind at peace by not quarreling with certain individuals in my life. Some folks don't ever think they are wrong and will just beat you down into submission from sheer exhaustion in an argument. I'm not good at quoting the Bible but I know somewhere in there it says to stay at Peace and time and Faith will heal all strife.
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