Mind ya Business

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 26

Gold Nugget
Verse 17: “He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.”

Commentary
Ever know anyone that has to be in the middle of everyone else’s business? This person feels like every quarrel needs their fighting skills. A peacemaker is worth their weight in gold, but people that want to be in the middle of the drama are a dime a dozen. When we throw the word “drama” in the mix, we unfairly assume that women are the only ones that are hungry for drama. We may not use the word “drama king” as we do “drama queen”, but some people love to fight and it’s a deficiency in men as well as women. For some people, "ain’t no business, like somebody else’s business." Now that we have painted an ugly picture of this horrible person and we have our own little picture in our head of who we know fits this description, let’s turn the critical eye inward. Whether it is a fight or just other people’s business in general, we need to know where we belong and where we don’t.

Again, being a peacemaker is a Christian characteristic, but even today’s “gold nugget” indicates that some quarrels are not our business. “He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.” When we are too quick to jump in the middle of a quarrel, we may not be aware of all the details. We may have chosen a defense that isn’t appropriate. We may be encouraging someone to continue in a bad direction because we encouraged it with our participation. We need to be quick to bring peace, but slow to choose sides. That being said, we can be just as useless by neglecting to choose a side. It may be popular, but this “I’m not choosing sides” can be encouraging to the one at fault and degrading to the person being mistreated. All this points to the fact that we need to be EXTREMELY cautious when it comes to other peoples quarrels.

Prayer
Lord, I have jumped in on the wrong side of a disagreement before and have had someone jump in on the wrong side of my disagreement. I see how foolish it is and know I need your help in knowing when to get involved and when to stay away. Reading your Words and spending time with you in prayer will help me to know the difference. Help me to apply this proverb today and from now on. Amen


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