We are spiritual beings living in God’s great universe
to fulfill His great purpose. If we are to realize life’s great purpose we need
to be connected to the Creator God. He is the reason for our being. He made us
with capacity to desire and choose the outcome of our life. And we are the end
product of the choices we made in life. Who we become is a lifestyle choice. The
first 12 verses of Proverbs 12 show us that a fool chooses to adopt a lifestyle
without the fear of the Lord. In that choice, he prefers folly to godly values.
In Proverbs 26:13-16, we see the lifestyle of people who are lazy. They refuse
a lifestyle of hard-work and diligence, and the manners they adopt in life is a
result of that lifestyle choice. In Proverbs 26:17-21, we are shown yet another
class of people whose lifestyle we must avoid. They are the meddlesome.
A person who is meddlesome is someone who interferes and
disrupts the life of others. Instead of living a life complementary to others
within a community to ensure a peaceful and harmonious co-existence, a
meddlesome person brings disharmony and disquiet. Verse 17 tells us that such a
person gets into a strife that is not his. He needlessly intrudes into the
quarrel of others and becomes agitated and angry for no reason of his own. He
is like one who needlessly take a dog by the ear and gets bitten unnecessarily.
Verses 18 shows that a meddlesome man will make the
excuse for his gross misconduct by claiming that he was only joking. He will cause
harm with his lies and claims it’s only a practical joke. He will cover up his real
intention in jest. In the process he will deliberately hurt someone covertly through
his jest. Verse 19 makes it clear that he is one who, under the guise of a joke,
hurls firebrand and darts that may kill friskily.
Verses 20-21 tell us that a meddlesome person takes
great delight in adding fire to the fuel to stroke up the fire in a controversy.
This is often done through subtle insinuations and innuendo. The subtle whisperings
will be done behind the back of people whom they intend to hurt. This is how he
keeps a falsehood and contention flourishing. Verse 21 shows that he will not only
operate covertly but will also do so openly. He will stroke the fire of
contention to a quarrel that seems to be dying down by bringing up more issues
to keep the quarrel going on. He is like one adding wood to fire that seems to
be at the brink of being doused.
These verses remind us to relate harmoniously with our
fellow believers. We must not intrude into the affairs of others unless it
affects our total witness as a community. The command of Jesus is to “love one
another.” If we are involved in mediating a misunderstanding, we must add to the
solution and not to create more problems. Otherwise, it is better to mind our
own business than to be the cause of a prolonged misunderstanding. Romans 12:9 exhorts
us to “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; and cling to what is
good.” This is a God-honouring attitude we must adopt.
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