Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Proverbs - Friends and Neighbors


Proverbs 25:17

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house;
lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

This is great relationship advice.  We shouldn’t overstay our welcome.  This includes calling a friend, hanging out with a friend or going to someone’s home.  It is our responsibility to pace relationships so that we don’t cause our friend to grow weary of us.  People can be a bit too much when there is just too much of them in our lives.  Marriage is different.  Children are different. Using the word neighbor here denotes a relationship outside of the home where the other person has their own home and family.  Before you pick up that phone to call that familiar friend, pray.  Ask the Lord if this is an appropriate time to call.  When you are at someone’s house be sensitive to yawns and stretches and initiate your departure out of love and concern for this schedule.  We want to help our friends love their neighbor as themselves.  Let us know when to withdraw our feet.

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