Don't Poke The Bear 5/15/2016

Good Morning,

I must apologize for getting this out so late today. I am coming down with a cold and was wiped out. So sleep seemed to be the best option for my health. My mug is filled with Door County Caramel Pecan Scones Coffee today. This flavor is really smooth and soothing to a sore throat.

Have you ever wondered why simple disagreements between two people turn into major battles? People who know each other very well know just what to say to get right to the heart of the other person in a bad way. They know the history of each other and have hidden deep within their hearts that flaming arrow they can call upon to hurt and remind the other person of their time of failure or a flaw in their life. This is usually met with an immediate response of equal devastation or even escalated a bit. This is like poking a bear and expecting it to want to cuddle with you. Utter disaster awaits that theory in your life.

Proverbs 18:21New International Version (NIV)

²¹ The tongue has the power of life and death,
    and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I have some young friends who will be getting married this summer and the one thing I want to talk to them about is how to disagree without disaster. The one thing they must understand is the power of the tongue. The tongue, combined with a memory that does not have an erase button or a delete box is a dangerous way to maintain relationships.

 Newton's third law of physics states, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object.

In our Scripture verse for today we see that the tongue has the power of life and death. In either way the tongue can be unleashed for good or mayhem. That requires a choice by the owner of the tongue. In a time of disagreement we all have that little voice (Holy Spirit) that says "don't go there, don't poke that bear". But in our own wisdom we decide it's a good idea to cause hurt, pain or sorrow and then wonder why we receive the barrage that comes back to us. We all know when we went where we shouldn't have during a disagreement. These reserve attack zingers are left best disarmed and put away.

Proverbs 12:18New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

But a couple who are wise in the Lord have both learned to control their tongue which produces the opposite reactions and good fruit.

Yes my friends learn there will always be disagreements but learn to disagree with grace, forgiveness and self control as the mediator of the disagreement.  Don't  poke the bear.

Marty