Pick your battles..... and make the right choice Proverbs 17:14

Proverbs 17:14 (New Living Translation)

14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate,
so stop before a dispute breaks out.

"Pick your battles".......... I had a conversation with somebody a couple weeks ago and this phrase was said toward the end of our conversation and has stuck with me ever since.

What does it mean to pick your battles? What battles are worth picking? What is my battle line?

I have always had a hard time figuring out what is worth battling and what I should let go. At one point in my life I always took one for the team. I have never really been the fighting type. As I have grown more confident in who I am and what I believe in.... I have had the opportunity to stand up for myself and my beliefs. When I start to disagree with somebody the battle line gets blurred and I have a hard time figuring out what I am disagreeing about.

I love the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

I think picking my battles means that I need to accept the things I cannot change in a situation and have the courage to change the things I can change. I just wish I slowed down enough to sift through the quarrel or stressful situation to figure out when to apply serenity or courage. When we don't slow down and see where we fit into a situation, we open up floodgates and more often than not, say things that we shouldn't say or do things we shouldn't do.

My actions and words can provide opportunities for anger, frustration, and hurt... and I have the responsibility to control my words and actions before the floodgates open. Stopping disputes before they even happen means taking responsibility for your side of the street and realizing that the other person or persons may never clean up their side of the street. We need the serenity to know that when the other side of the street is dirty, we don't need to focus on that dirt. We need to focus on the future.

God can do amazing things in the midst of stress and conflict. Picking my battles means picking the Christ-like behavior and not the worldly solutions to conflict. Picking my battles means seeing the whole street and not just the "other" side.

God builds up walls for a reason. These walls are set in place for us to respect and love one another as Jesus did. When we start chipping away at these intentional walls........ the flood of anger, frustration, judgement, and fear come pouring out... and things are done and said that we can never take back.