Friday!

Proverbs!

Don't accuse anyone without reason, 

when they haven't harmed you.  

Proverbs 3:30 CEB

Don't make stuff up, guess, fill in the blanks - the parts we don't know - with assumptions.

The Hebrew word here is "riyb" which means to grapple, wrestle, contend, dispute, quarrel. 

When there's been no harm, no cost, this proverb is inviting us to find other ways to communicate without the contention, the disputing, the wrestling.

Ever got through a dispute or an argument with someone and wondered what it was all about?

Perhaps start with naming the problem, the issue, and when we start there, new ways of resolving it can open up. 

My brain is good at jumping over any missing information, any unknowns, creates it's own little story or justification and goes straight to "you always" or "you never"...just as this Proverb highlights, accusing without reason, without taking the time to know person's heart or intent.

If nothing else, this Proverb invites us to slow down when we want to accuse, to grapple, to contend with someone else.

As we slow down, what other ways of being and responding open up?

#proverbs 

#wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing