Proverbs 17:14
“Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”
There’s a lot of conflict around us. How are we doing with it on a personal level?
It’s interesting to see the nature of the flesh reveal itself in young children. They can be playing nicely and sharing well when suddenly the phrase “that’s mine” changes everything! It’s not always an object that causes rising tension. Arguing can easily ensue when one party doesn’t get their own way; their will is crossed.
Wait…
Are we still talking about children?
Some people live to fight. Be very aware of such people. We have a phrase in our home to help guard against quarreling…
“Don’t take the bait.”
The idea is to pull back and see the big picture. One person may be in attack mode and cause you to be defensive. You must however, resist the fleshly response of taking an argumentative tone and engaging in the fight.
Some are really only interested in the fight. Your carefully crafted response is of no value to them.
The warning here though is to refrain from being the one who “starts a quarrel “. This is what breaches the dam!
A breached dam causes an uncontrolled flood of rushing emotions that destroys everything in it’s path; the most valuable of which is people. That’s a person on the other end of the…
wagging finger
raised voice
berating word slinging.
💔
Maybe we could learn something from the children. We hear them say defensively, “He started it!”
The adult response often dismisses this statement. We usually indicate we don’t care or it doesn’t matter.
Maybe what we should be teaching is don’t start a quarrel. Don’t breach the dam. Be the one who sees the value of the other person. They have been made in the image of God. Just. Like. You.
