Treading on Toes
Proverbs 22:28 Never move an old property line that was marked long ago by your ancestors.
More and more as you look around in society, people are becoming less and less considerate of others. Neighbours who party loudly late into the night, people who leave their half empty fast food containers on the park bench – it’s happening more and more.
There’s nothing worse than when someone treads on your toes as the saying goes. You know – they get in your space, they tread on your emotions or your aspirations or your sense of dignity, and what you end up feeling is something between discomfort, anger and fear.
And that’s why boundaries are so important. These days we seem to live in a world of anything goes. The more affluent we become, the less dependent we become on one another, right? So it doesn’t matter so much anymore whose toes you tread on. That’s why things like common courtesy, honour, respect, humility, thoughtfulness … well, they’re considered in many circles to be just a tad old-fashioned.
But let me ask you … do you like hanging around people who are courteous? Do you like being with those who honour and respect you? Those who humble themselves? Sure, you do. We all do. So what is it again, exactly, that makes us think those things are old-fashioned?
In fact, they’re amongst the most important boundaries that we can set in our lives. Here they are again, in case you missed them; courtesy, honour, respect and humility.
They’ve been handed down from generation to generation. I remember my dad drumming them into me, a process that often times wasn’t all that comfortable. But at some point, we all want to rebel.
Proverbs 22:28 Never move an old property line that was marked long ago by your ancestors.
It turns out that some of those things that people consider to be old-fashioned were put there for a reason.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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