Quit Feeding the Fire

Proverbs 26:20-21

For lack of wood the fire goes out and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

              Some truths are self-evident. But a good metaphor helps to reinforce what we know to be true. If you want to be a peacemaker, a good start is not feeding the fire. Notice though how the actions define the person. It is not just the acts of whispering and quarreling that are the problem. The problem is a person who is a whisperer and a quarrelsome man.

              Ray Comfort is known for his “good person test.” The test asks people questions like, “Have you ever lied?” Of course, people answer “yes,” and that prompts the follow-up question, “What does that make you?” The uncomfortable answer is, “A liar.” That is an important aspect of this proverb. The whisperer whispers because they are a whisperer and the quarreler quarrels because they are a quarreler.

              The acts of whispering and quarreling are symptoms. They reveal the deeper problem of an inner, sinful bent toward these sins. It is not just that whispering stops and that solves the problem. It is that the whisperer himself is out of the picture. It is not quarreling itself that is wood on the fire. It is the person who is a quarreling man that is wood on the fire.

              This calls for serious self-examination and repentance. Yes, confess the act. It is sin. But go deeper and ask yourself why you have acted in this way? And seek the Lord’s grace and the Spirit’s work in your heart to change you. What the proverb doesn’t say, but is worth saying here, is when the whisperer is no longer a whisperer quarreling ceases too.