Mind Meld of A Different Kind

PROVERBS 6:1-5
My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said—
follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.
Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.

Wise generosity
Sounds like Solomon wrote from experience! Me too. While this is a proverb and, as such, not a hard and fast rule, it’s true enough times to expect pain if it’s neglected.

Loaning money to friends and family or agreeing to cosign on a loan places me on the path to strained or broken relationships. Sure there may be a happy side trail we two may walk, but beware. Even when loan payments are regularly made, the dynamic of the relationship changes.

When my heart feels the pain of a friend in a financial bind, we are both better off if I just give money rather than loan it. As important, I must consider whether or not a bail out is best for my friend. If financial binds are common and result from repeated poor decisions, my gift may be the last thing my friend needs! There’s something about hitting rock bottom that offers more hope to an unwise person than the perpetual bail out.

This proverb doesn’t discourage me from generosity. It pushes me to make hard choices that will most likely benefit friendships and family harmony in the long run. These words move me beyond feeling bad to acting wisely.

Father, continue to teach me how to be generous with wisdom. - Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 6:16-19
There are six things the LORD hates—
no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.

Defiant attitudes
Raising children requires dealing with bad attitudes. Every child is defiant at some point and often it is at the worst possible moment for you, the adult in charge. It is not hard to tell when a child is pushing against the boundaries trying to see exactly where the line is going to be. Their eyes, mouth, posture, and general behavior all cry out, “I can do what I want and you can’t stop me.”

As parents, we are charged with helping our children learn good boundaries and relational skills. We are responsible to address this attitude of defiance, discord, and destruction with firmness and love.

God, our Heavenly Father, does no tolerate bad attitudes any more than a good parent does. He hates arrogance, pride, destructive behavior and deceitfulness. The seven things God hates are the same things every child has to be corrected in. As a child of God, I too must learn to put off these bad attitudes and actions in exchange for the fruit of the Spirit.

It is no wonder we find ourselves in “time out” so much spiritually when we so often sport attitudes and actions that God hates. God does not reward bad behavior any more than good parents reward bad behavior in children. Instead of being mad at God, a good self-examination followed by confession and repentance is in order.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for sporting a bad attitude when things do not go my way. My desire is not to be self-centered but Christ-centered. Help me to let go of every selfish attitude and action and replace it with the fruit of the Spirit. - Dan Jones