Proberbs 18

***Proverbs 18***

Verse 17: "in a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines."

When I was in high school I was messing around with one of my friends... and as boys do I pushed him into a wall... unfortunately he went right through the wall. We were immediately escorted to the Assistant Principal's office... meaning I had about 3 minutes to put a good story together. By the time we got to his office I was convinced that he went through the wall because he jumped into the wall as I was pushing him... it had nothing to do with me. And the Assistant Principal actuall ybelieved the story, kind of. We didn't get into trouble, but we had to split the cost of a new wall. (Which they never fixed while I was still a student, instead they put a huge poster of a Koala bear... I wonder if it has ever been fixed. If not, I want my money back!)

We are good at telling stories in a way that favors us. We are good at telling our side of the story. I'm not saying anything controversial... cnn, msnbc and foxnews will all report the same story three different ways, and they slant the story depending on what they believe. There is no such thing as un-biased reporting anymore... everything is opinionated. It's part of who we are.

We must realize that there are two sides to most stories. For instance, when two people get divorced things get ugly, stories and rumors begin and all of a sudden two people that were once madly in love are now bitter enemies. The stories that circulate often tell one side of the story and as a result family and friends end up taking sides. Things get ugly... fast.

What most people don't realize is that those who love you will support you through difficult times. It's ok to accept some blame for what went wrong, it's ok to admit that they aren't so bad and that things just didn't work out. It's ok to tell both sides of the story... to tell the truth. Those who love you will still love you if they find out you're not perfect... Lord know they aren't.

But... that is most cases. Some people are just mean... the stories about them are all true. If you know someone like that, do not let them ruin another day of your life... God loves them, you don't have to.