M.Y.O.B
I’ve been there and you’ve been there. Someone you know and care for (a friend or family member) is in a conflict with someone else, and you so badly want to intervene. You want to come to the aid of the person you care for by explaining to the person they’re in conflict with where they may be at fault or where they may be misunderstanding your friend.
We want to sometimes help our friends and family in their conflicts with others, but don’t do it! Mind Your Own Business (MYOB).
“He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like one who takes a dog by the ears.”
It’s better to let people work out their own conflicts with others, especially if they have nothing to do with you. My great uncle took it a step further and didn’t even get involved or comment on his children’s conflicts with their spouses.
People will learn from their own conflicts with others, and eventually the conflict will work itself out in one way or another. The apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 exhorts us to mind our own business:
“ ‘Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands.’”
And in his second letter to the people of Thessalonikki, Paul goes so far to say when we don’t mind our own business, it’s because we are not busy in our own lives:
“‘We hear that some of you are living in idleness. You are not busy working —you are busy interfering in other people’s lives!’ ”
No matter how much we may want to intervene in someone else’s conflict it’s best to stay out of it and let the parties involved sort out their issues. Pray for the parties but stay out of the conflict. It’s the most peaceful decision we can make.
Happy Friday!