Principles for the Godly

God gave us principles to follow when dealing with mean or destructive people.

When we know that a soft answer or no answer at all gives the manipulators no power.

Proverbs 15:1-2 "1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly.…"

Proverbs 18:2
"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

Proverbs 29:11
"A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."

Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 18:6
"A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating."

Proverbs 29:9
"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."

Proverbs 18:7
"A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul."

Proverbs 10:23
"Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding."

Proverbs 14:7-9
"Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance."

I see more clearly than ever now that when we follow Christ's mandates in dealing with those who want to harm us, we avoid the pitfalls and remain free of a tormented conscience.

God didn't tell us to remain with people who do evil to us or others, but if we have to be around them, we don't have to feed their attempts to cause us to sin. Instead we display kindness, giving and diligence in their presence and pray that God use what they see in us.

Often our good actions convict the foolish man, they work hard to make us do what they know we don't want to do, then they can feel justified in their own sin toward us.

Bottom line: When with a fool whose dedication is to ruin others, remove ourselves if we can, if we cannot then we should obey God not to do anything vengeful or in anger toward the one who wants us to fail in our walk with Christ.