” Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops”
Proverbs 26:20 ~ NLT
Recently in doing some lawn maintenance I was suddenly attacked by an army of fire ants. I am certain many, if not all can relate to ant bites and agree they’re not only painful but annoying too!
While some ant bites are considered non-life threatening others tend to result in fatality. I often ponder, how is it that these tiny predators cause so much havoc? Lately I learned when ants bite, they inject or spray chemicals such as formic acid; they use formic acid for defense purposes. The reactions of ant bites are pain, itching and swelling and in most cases these symptoms subside within a few hours. To prevent further irritation or infection one must avoid scratching of the area. As a sigh of relief the inflamed area can be relieved with ice packs or over the counter creams and lotions. If the symptoms persist or worsen a physician must be contacted immediately.
Sometimes people are annoying like ant bites and if we allow our minds to intake and store up unhealthy thoughts towards them, it will eventually brings on inflamed feelings. However God has a remedy – a healing balm to help soothe the irritation. When we’re on the urge of scratching the irritation we must apply the First Aid cream of Proverbs 26:20. Precisely, we must avoid the temptation to belittle them . Simply, discussing every little irritation and piece of gossip keeps the fires of anger going.
Does someone continuously irritate you? Make the decision not to complain about the individual and see if your irritation dies.
© 2011