Proverbs 3:29-30 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. (30) Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
For this proverb, I will refer to Patrick Henry’s Bible Commentary where it is rephrased in the following manner:
· We must not be quarrelsome and litigious.
· Do not strive with a man without cause;
· Contend not for that which thou hast no title to;
· Resent not as a provocation that which peradventure was but an oversight.
· Never trouble thy neighbour with frivolous complaints and accusations, or vexatious law-suits, when either there is no harm done thee or none worth speaking of, or thou mightest right thyself in a friendly way.
This advice reflects Paul’s in the New Testament where He says, If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Sad to say, were this advice followed, gossip columnists and lawyer would go broke.
What is it in human nature that makes us strive on drama? I have known people who feel it abnormal when things quietly follow their course. They automatically attribute it to denial, so they go around trying to find the drama; and if they can’t find it, they create it.
In the classic movie Gone with the Wind, Scarlet was determined to steal her best friend’s husband from her. In trying to do so, Scarlet constantly took care of this man, even all the more after he came back wounded from the war. His wife, suspecting nothing, took it all as act of selfless love towards her. Because her heart was pure, she couldn’t even conceive the very real and present evil that was threatening her life. Call it innocent naïve stupidity, gullibility or denial, but I know who was the happier of the two women. It may only be a movie, but it works in real life. Those whose heart is pure and drama-impervious, see God, instead of the devil in everything.
What a different world we would have if instead of making mountains out of molehills, we would make molehills out of mountains.
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