Sharing Is Not for Everyone

(Proverbs 5:17 KJV)  Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

As this is posted the holidays that are distinctly Christian are on the horizon.  Thanksgiving is days away.  Christmas is weeks.  These are times of great celebration, reflection and sharing.  This verse is about sharing and the context is sexual.  We are to be faithful.  Some things are not to be shared.  That is an unchanging standard, part of that “middle class morality” that America used to be hung up on.

But another aspect of holidays and sharing came to me as I read this.  We will have family members traveling across the country to be together.  We will be pulling together to spend time blessing the tie that binds.  While this is also a time of year to reach out to those less blessed it is also a time to find ways to spend time alone together.  It is possible to ruin a special time by the injudicious inclusion of people who are nothing but a disruption.  Make sure that there are times when it is just the family.  Listen and share in the ways you cannot do when outsiders are with you.  Glory in the blessings God has given you.

So?  Does that mean never include others?  No.  It means have enough common sense to give your family the priority it needs to stay a strong unit.  Then reach out.