The Mouth of a Fool.

I said one thing this summer that people have repeated back to me more than anything else:

“Steven, you’re a good kid.  But your mouth’s gonna get you into a lot of trouble.”

My father was right, of course.  I would say anything, no matter how rude or hostile or mean or inappropriate.  I had no filter.  My parents were always talking to me about having “no tact.”  I wouldn’t shut up.  In one class in high school, my peers even begged me to stop complaining, because even though our teacher upset everyone, the strife I created by fighting with him every day only made things worse.

“A fool’s lips lead to strife and his mouth provokes a beating” Proverbs 18:6.

 Are you still fighting?  Still stirring up trouble?  Still leaving problems behind wherever you go?  Why? 

I needed to memorize Proverbs 17:14: “To start a conflict is to release a flood. Stop the dispute before it breaks out.” 

I never stopped disputes.  I STARTED disputes.  I was passionate about my twisted notions of justice.  I saw unfair situations everywhere and wanted to argue about them all.  But finally, it began to dawn on me: Why? Why be upset all the time?  What good came from what Paul calls “pointless arguments” in 2 Timothy 2:23?  Jesus was a wordsmith whose “arguments” with religious leaders are legendary.  But do you know what Jesus said?

“BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS” Matthew 5:9.

That stuck with me.  My father was a peacemaker and I wanted to become one too.  Lawyers work full-time arguing over conflicts.  But the essence of a lawyer’s work is not conflict, but rather CONFLICT RESOLUTION.  The behavior of the parties creates the conflict, but their lawyers—counselors—RESOLVE the conflict.

“It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel” Proverbs 20:3.

God, transform us into peacemakers. Give us the wisdom to recognize the rare time when we must fight and the humility to make peace the rest of the time.

ΑΩ