Proverbs 26:17
|
He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.
|
Even a friendly dog will bite, if you grab and pull its ears! And here is the busybody, stopping to get involved in the strife of others, who will soon be bitten by both parties! The Preacher teaches us the wisdom of not getting involved in the conflicts of others.
Peacemakers are wonderful (Matt 5:9). But the great work of making peace involves your own strife! If you have offended another, you are to make peace with him (Matt 5:23-26). If another has offended you, you are to make peace with him (Matt 18:15-22).
By great care, and only after careful reflection, should we get involved in others' conflicts and try to make peace for them. For even our own strife, which we know well, is to be prosecuted with caution, let alone that of which we are quite ignorant (25:8)! After wise deliberation, make sure your words are the good ones spoken in due season (15:23).
Spiritual and wise men should try to help others with their problems (Rom 15:1-3; Gal 6:1-3), which includes conflict and strife. We are our brothers' keepers in such things (Lev 19:17; I Thess 5:14). And those in authority, as parents and pastors, have the honorable right and obligation to search out matters (25:2). See the comments on 25:2.
But some people are busybodies. They love to be busy in other men's matters (I Pet 4:15). This is a sin, and it is to be strictly avoided by wise men and women. Consider the warning by association in this text, which compares murderers, thieves, and evildoers!
Meddlers love to get involved in disputes between others. They love digging up evil between others and spreading it. It makes them feel important to be involved in others' problems, though they are always the worst at solving their own problems! They love the inside information of private controversies. It gives them a perverse sense of worth.
Some at Thessalonica were so eager for this sin they even stopped working. Paul wrote, "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread" (II Thess 3:11-12). He had written in the first epistle, "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you" (I Thess 4:11).
Women have a great temptation to be meddlers, or busybodies, in strife not belonging to them. So Paul recommended marriage and children for young widows, to keep them from idleness and the temptation of such folly (I Tim 5:12-15). Idle women are a curse on any people, as they were in Sodom of old (Ezek 16:49).
Our blessed Lord was perfectly virtuous in this matter. "And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you" (Luke 12:13-14)? Dear reader, follow this holy example of Jesus today. The difference is great between suffering as a busybody and suffering as a Christian (I Pet 4:14-16).
www.letgodbetrue.com
