Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 01-03-2021

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, do your best; He’ll take care of the rest.

Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.
Do not contend with a person for no reason,
If he has done you no harm.
Proverbs 3:29-30, NASB

I don’t have a background that would permit doing harm against a peaceful neighbor; the closest I’ve ever come to this setting personally was a retired couple, living in the apartment below me, who were always complaining that my kitten made noise during the day. Not a lot I could do about it; apartment life just carries the potential to be disturbed.

On the other hand, I have a LOT of experience with people contending with someone for no reason. I am, after all, a retired REDNECK, and a frequent (youthful) redneck behavior is starting trouble. 

Not that I ever did that...of course…

As a middle school counselor for 16+ years, one of the BEST things I did was establish a solid program for the management of bullying. Dominance games are rampant in middle schools, but a coordinated approach CAN re-socialize the students away from predatory behavior. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t such a program for adults. I guess we are supposed to have grown out of the need to enforce our will on others, or something. For extreme examples of contending with a person who has done no harm (road rage, or a physical attack) you can call a cop, I guess.

Let’s start a business to change our society. We’ll print T-shirts that say: 

God Doesn’t Want 
You To Mess With People. 
So, STOP IT.

Peace be on your household.

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