A STRIFE-FREE ZONE
Proverbs 17:1 and 14 NLT
1 Better a dry crust eaten in peace
than a house filled with feasting—and conflict.
14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate,
so stop before a dispute breaks out.
Chapter seventeen is full of practical advice on understanding people and understanding yourself. For example, a merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. The NLT says a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. There is such good people skill wisdom in Proverbs.
Our verses for today are a reminder that strife ruins an environment and how to reduce strife in your life. Verse one tells us that peace and little to eat is better than a feast where there is conflict. This was written to people who usually lived on the edge of food scarcity. One of the reasons the people, during the time of Jesus’ ministry, were so enamored with Him is that He fed them. They were thinking that if He were their king, they would never go hungry again. We have segments of our society today where food scarcity is still a major problem, but this proverb is elevating the environment over an abundance of food. Food may feed us physically, but conflict can drain us. Too much conflict can break us down in our souls. There are no scriptures that encourage conflict in homes and personal relationships.
So how do we stop, or at the very least, reduce the conflict in our lives? Verse fourteen gives us a good strategy. Stop it before it starts. Once you engage in a conflict and allow strife a foothold, it’s like opening the doors on a dam. It’s not going to stop. There was a popular story about a Dutch boy who put his finger in a hole that was forming in a dike and saved his town. The story is a work of fiction; it never happened. But the principle makes sense. He stopped the water when it was a trickle so the dike would not break. The best way to avoid a quarrel is to never get it started. Just walk away. Bite your tongue. Say nothing. Easier said than done? Absolutely. But the long-range benefit of avoiding strife is healthy for you and all those around you.
APPLICATION
Joy and I discovered almost by accident that a cheap meal and kindness between us is better than a fancy meal and strife. We went to IHOP one New Year’s Eve and had a meal with virtually no one in the restaurant. But we had a chance to sit and share and enjoy peace to the point that the meal did not matter as much.
We have also arranged for date nights when we were not getting along, and regardless of the restaurant, the quality of the meal did not make up for the conflict. So I can say we know experientially the importance of these verses. Make an effort to stop strife and conflict. Then bon appétit.