evil choices

I have this proverb under my keyboard at work.  I work with some not very nice people and I need it to remind myself and give me my true north!

Proverbs 24:1-6, 19-24
Don't envy bad people; don't even
want to be around them.  All they think about is causing a
disturbance;
all they talk about is making trouble.

It takes wisdom to build a house,
   and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
   with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.

  It's better to be wise than strong;
   intelligence outranks muscle any day.
Strategic planning is the key to warfare;
   to win, you need a lot of good counsel.
Don't bother your head with braggarts
   or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
Those people have no future at all;
   they're headed down a dead-end street.

Every time someone is hateful or every time I am tempted to be hateful and ugly right back.  I lift my keyboard and read. Some people are just bullies...and I am surrounded by some of them.  I watch them, study them and decide what I have to do to NOT be like that.

How does God expect me to handle these people?  Just as he says...don't bother with them.  Don't want to be like them or with them. They stir stuff, they gossip, they talk about everyone else.   Wait...make sure those things don't describe you.  This is a good one to put somewhere within reach...so you can pull it out and remind yourself...it takes wisdom to build a house and understanding to put it on a firm foundation.