Argue your case with your associate, without betraying another’s confidence, or the one who hears it will shame you, and you will never lose your bad reputation. Proverbs 25:9-10, TLV
Thrown Anyone Under the Bus Lately? For most of my life, I had a real problem. Because of my deeply rooted insecurities, I needed to be right. Craved being right. Being wrong meant — to me — that I was stupid and somehow bad, unacceptable. I would do anything to be right, even when I was wrong. So, I did a lot of arguing and quibbling. Which didn’t make for a peaceful environment around me.
A while back, the Holy Spirit used today’s proverb to open my eyes to this problem. I was throwing a lot of poor souls under the bus. It was a “YIKES!” moment.
The first time I muttered, with great difficulty, “Oh. I think you may be right.” was a turning point.
Better Than Being Right
The writer of this proverb places a moral priority of trustworthiness and integrity above being right. Or rather, attempting to prove we are right. One of the common ways to defend or prove our rightness is to use a secret someone may have told us.
Most secrets should be kept private. The information someone
entrusts to us is not ours to do as we please. We are merely trustworthy stewards.
That can be a dilemma if this information is the only proof of our being right, or innocent, isn’t it?
In my life, I have betrayed confidences to save myself. I threw others under the bus to save my hide. Horrible, I know. Today, even though it might be a battle to master my tongue when arguing my “case,” it is a battle worth fighting. It will be difficult with plenty of tongue-biting, but the results are worth it.
Think More About It
Have you struggled like me? In the quest for being right, have others suffered? There are no easy shortcuts, how have you mastered the need to use any means to be right?
Until tomorrow, may our trustworthiness be true, even under fire, my friends.
Thank you for your continued prayers for Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. God bless you.
