“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Proverbs 9:7-8
Webster defines a mocker as someone who treats others with contempt or ridicule.
Ah, now it makes sense. You know those people who want to argue? Well, I’m pretty sure they just want to argue. And y’all, I’m just not interested in wasting my time on people who just want to fight.
Instead, I prefer to focus on those who are truly seeking when they ask questions. Questions are good in many ways because they help us learn, help us understand. But, we need to be careful what sort of arguments we allow ourselves to get into with people who, for lack of better words, just want to fight.
Thoughts?
My father-in-law is just this type person, he claims that he’s playing “devil’s advocate”. He chuckles about getting his brother or someone else “stirred up”.
I have learned to ignore him or not respond to him when he is baiting for an argument. There was one time that he just kept on and on and I told him as respectfully as I could muster, that “I am not going to argue with an old fart”. He was surprised by response but you know, I think I gain some respect from him that day.
He hasn’t tried to bait me in an argument in a long time.
Cindy, I’m with you on this one. I am a no nonsense kind of girl. I don’t waste my breath on people who want to fight. They aren’t interested in what you have to say. They are too busy defending what they want you to believe with them. They feel their way of thinking is the only way. That doesn’t jive with me.