Posted on 09/25/2019 7:38:34 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another” (Proverbs 25:8-9).
“Go not forth hastily,” don't be in a big hurry “to strive.” This verse deals with handling people problems. I mean, you’ve got problems with people. And we will, as long as we're around people, and long as we are the way that we are, we are going to have problems with people. That's the way you handle it -- cautiously.
“Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.” In other words, get the story from the horse’s mouth before you go accusing somebody, or you go out for revenge against somebody that you think has done something that somebody else has told you about. Now, the way you are to take care of this is found in verse 9.
“Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself; and discover not a secret to another.” If there is a problem between you and your neighbor, it is between you and him. Go to him: “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15). Especially your friend and your brother in Christ. You are to go to him and not anyone else. Now, if he will not receive you, or if he will not listen to you then take it before the church; but your first obligation is to go to him.
You are not to go out and just say, “Hey man what did you do? And start trouble. You go to him and ask, “Did you do this? I've heard, or somebody said, or I have been told such and such, and I'm trying to get the truth.” Go to the person and find out, lest “in the end thereof, thy neighbour put thee to shame.”
In other words, when he tells you the truth that he didn't have anything to do with it, or it isn't like you were told; and you are all out of sorts about it—then you will be the one that is brought to shame.
That's just how to handle the problems of life. Before we go accusing somebody or judging somebody or condemning somebody, get the story straight from the horse’s mouth. Go to it, “debate thy cause.”
Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!
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