01/26/2010 - Fighting rottweilers

"He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears." Proverbs 26:17

There is nothing more tasty and appealing than getting the latest gossip of who's mad at who, or taking up the offense of your best friend. Gossip is just so juicy isn't it? And of course, your friend needs someone to take up their cause, right?

Wrong.

Think about that analogy the Proverb describes for a minute. Picture in your mind a snarling, mean, slobbering, ugly rottweiler growling, baring his teeth, and snapping at your face and the only thing you can hold onto to hold him back from ripping you to shreds are his ears. No thank you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize your hands are going to get tired long before that dog does and when they slip, you're toast. When you put yourself in the big, fat middle of a fight that doesn't belong to you, you're just waiting for the big dog to bite you.

Of course it's tempting to want to help your friend, and of course it's tempting to let your ears wander and listen in on someone else's conversation. We've all done it. But if you will humor me for a second, and think back to the last time you got in the middle of an argument or a fight, it wasn't long before you had so much drama going on in your world that you could scream, or someone said something to you or about you that still hurts to think about even now. God's best is not for you to be stressed or hurting. When you're so consumed with someone else's drama or issues, you cease to be effective for the Kingdom and you cease to see those around you who need His love in their lives. Our job as a Christian is simple: love God, and love people. If you're constantly having to be angry at every other person at school, because you're taking up all your friend's offenses, how are you ever going to be seen as a caring, loving, Godly person?

Decide this day that you're going to focus on God and what He is working on in you and stop the constant parade of offenses that have you forever fighting that rottweiler. Choose to love and reach out to those around you and see them the way God sees them: as lost, alone, and in need of the One True Love of the Father that you have been given freely.

***Jess