PROVERBS 26

Proverbs 26:20
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."

While riding my bike on the first day of spring, I found it oddly entertaining to see all kinds of things being thrown out for trash day. As I turned the corner onto a side street, a gust of wind sent a big, black, fully stuffed trash bag flying down the sidewalk.

A school bus had just dropped off two kids—a boy and a girl who looked about seven years old. They were walking up the sidewalk when they saw the trash bag barreling toward them. Instead of jumping out of the way, the little girl faced it head-on, grabbed it, and said, “I wonder whose trash this is.”
She was small, but something about her felt strong and courageous. In that moment, she had a decision to make:
Should she place it neatly on the curb so it would be taken away?
Should she open it and share bits of it with her friends and neighbors?
Or should she carry it with her—dragging it while she played, ate dinner, slept, and went to school?

You might think the choice is obvious. But the real question is: what do we do with the trash that blows into our lives?

Trash shows up easily.
Do we listen to gossip and pass it along, or do we walk away?
When we pick up bad habits, do we recognize them for what they are?
If we’re watching a movie, show, or reading something unwholesome, do we turn it off or toss it aside? Or do we stick with it just to see how it ends—even if it quietly chips away at our spirit?

The truth is, there’s always a cost. It may not be instant, but trash—if left unchecked—accumulates and weighs us down.

Hebrews 12:1 reminds us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

So the decision is ours:
Would we rather live like a strong little race car, built to run with purpose—
or like a big, stinky garbage truck, carrying around things that were never meant to stay?

Let’s choose to lay it down.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly father, You closed the mouths of the lions that Daniel faced, so we ask that you close our mouths when we are tempted to say things that would hurt. Help us to speak to each other with encouragement, love and peace, to build up your kingdom, and to lead others to Jesus. Please give us the courage to say the right words in the right way. Help us to see, hear, and do only what you want, while we let go of the trash. We give you all the glory and honor as you guide us to be more like Jesus