The halfbaked Bard

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honour Only fools insist on quarreling.  Pro:20:3 The normal path is to start or continue on a quarrel. For the world's teaching is to pin your point. If you do not stand for yourself, who else will stand for you? The Kingdom perspective is different. Walk the extra mile, show the other cheek as well, is what the master teaches.  Picking up a fight is easy normalcy. But avoiding by keeping quiet is the difficult one. You might seem to have lost the battle. But it is foolish to insist on quarreling. To keep on blabbering is useless.  Learn to keep quiet. Let others win. Your identity is not based on whether you win this or not. Your identity is that you are a child of God. That doesn't change if you win or lose.  Even if you are on the right side, by keeping quiet you let God do the talking. God will work for your benefit. God will do the convincing. God will work on your behalf. He will bring a solution as you keep quiet and let Him.  I

How often do i tolerate another's mistake? How patient am I? How many chances do I give them to err? How many times have I told them (or may be thought in my heart) "How many times have I told you?" Jesus' standard was to forgive seventy times seven.  Pro:19:19. Hot tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.  Keep doing like Jesus has forgiven your endless struggle again and again. As you fall again, He will forgive again and He will lift you again.  If I do not forgive again and again, if I do not give yet another chance, then what love do I have for them? Do I not give myself one more chance endlessly because of my love to myself? Yes. So Jesus commands - Love your neighbor as yourself. Matt:22:39. This is the second most important command.  Letting go or demeaning or letting your anger and anger frustration out is the opposite. Help me Lord to be patient, to be tolerant, to be accomodarive, to be loving.

Pro:19:21 You can make many plans But the Lord's purpose will prevail.  Prevail means, prove more powerful and superior. It just doesn't mean, God will impose His plans as a cruel ruler - like whatever you plan, only His purpose will come to pass. You plan in vain.  It doesn't just picturize God as a cruel ringmaster, who forces His plans into our life and makes us do things which He wishes, no matter what. But He is a compassionate father who wants the best to happen in our life.  His sovereignty picturises His goodness too. The best that we can do is to desire for planning like He plans. Fully trusting in the way He leads. He will not take us in a way and ditch us midway. Even if we take foolish choices in between, He will transform that to His wonders, because His ultimate beautiful purpose of remaking us into the image of Christ has to happen. He chose them to be like His Son (Rom:8:29). He knows everything. He controls everything. And because He is love and

Pro:19:17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord And He will repay you.  Do not be stingy in helping others in need. Because the Word says, when you help them you are lending to God, who is rich beyond all measures and He will repay you.  We give freely if we think of our wealth as something not of our own. But something that is given to us. Entrusted to us. Our attitude to giving has to change. It is said about a cheerful giver, that God loves him. And those He love, will He not bless? Yet if our attitude in giving is to get more from a richer source, our attitude is wrong. Give out of compassion to the needy.  You give money, time, energy, encouragement, prayers, knowledge to those who are in need, with your full heart and God will bless you.  Image credit:  https://ariyajoti.wordpress.com/2020/11/01/how-do-you-define-helping/

Pro:19:11 Sensible people control their temper They earn respect by overlooking wrongs.  Be sensible. Be wise. Control your anger. There is no point in blurting out. No point in shouting. Be wise to overlook other's wrongs. Learn to forgive. Even when they seek it not. Do not keep into account what wrongs they have done to you. Erase it all. Learn to say both to you, and to them "It's okay, let's move on" Do not tie yourself down. Do not burden yourself in a cage by not forgiving. Be free. Set free. Overlook their wrongs even if you feel they do not deserve it.  Image credit:  https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/645106/human_brain_human_head_sensible_sharp_smart_wise_icon

Pro:19:3 People ruin their lives by their own foolishness And then are angry at the Lord.  Our own decisions we make depending on our limited wisdom. We think that job would solve all of our problems. We think this healing would sort things out for us. We think saying those words or doing it this way would direct us in the right way.  But very often it leads to ruin. Retrospectively if we look at it, we would say - if at all i would not have said that word. If at all i didn't take that decision. Very often, looking at the ruin, we blame God. Though it is a consequence of our foolish decision. God is Sovereign, but where you are stuck, that is a result of your foolish choice.  Yet the Sovereignty of God also means that He is good and all things work together for good for those who love Him. Even if it happens - the consequences of our foolish words or deeds, God will make it for our good. Because He is in control. Because His very character is that He is good. And He lov