{"id":2598,"date":"2020-10-15T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2020-10-15T05:27:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T10:27:27","slug":"who-is-the-busy-bodies-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/10\/15\/who-is-the-busy-bodies-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO ARE THE BUSY BODIES IN YOUR LIFE?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWe hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.\u201d (2 Thessalonians 3:11 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Busybodies aren\u2019t busy; they\u2019re idle and disruptive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mom always used to say, \u201cIdle hands are the devil\u2019s workshop.\u201d  She wasn\u2019t lying. The root word for \u201cbusybody\u201d is periergos.  According to Vine\u2019s Greek New Testament Dictionary<\/a>: “some who are not busied in their own business, but are over busied in that of others.”  <\/em>Focusing on other people\u2019s lives means busybodies don\u2019t have to focus on the truth of their own lives.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a meal to someone going through a difficult time is different from popping over with juicy gossip to stir up trouble.  Busybodies aren\u2019t doing anything productive.  Instead, mayhem follows after them, simply because they create it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Busybodies requires boundaries.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying who the busybodies are in your life protects you from their manipulations.  God help you if its a neighbor.  When we were first married, I had a busybody neighbor.  They start subtle, just a friendly, \u201cHello.\u201d  Next thing you know, they think they live in your house.  Learning to set boundaries in that relationship was educational for me.  We are still good neighbors, but the limit is clear of what is \u201ctoo much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying the line in the sand is what boundary setting is.  As I\u2019ve worked with people in different capacities, all different ages, everyone wants to know the limit.  When we started our fall tennis classes this year, the date coincided with the first day of school.  Every kid who came was wound up, ready to test limits.   Once they know what they are, the rest of the classes go well.  Establishing boundaries smooths the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus set boundaries.  He withdrew from crowds when He needed time with God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.\u201d (<\/em>Luke 5:15-16 NIV<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to know who the busybodies are in our lives so we can set the appropriate boundaries.  And we have to understand; sometimes we\u2019re the busybodies.  Instead of focusing on the things in our own life that need work, we focus on other people\u2019s faults.   Developing a relationship with God will help keep your focus on the right things.  No one\u2019s marriage is more important than yours.  No one else\u2019s family is more important than yours.  Prioritize your relationships to guard against becoming a busybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One common way people prioritize a Christ-follower\u2019s relationships is with JOY:  Jesus, Others, You.   Husband, family, friends are how I prioritize \u201cOthers.\u201d Not every relationship is the same; prioritizing helps keep perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let people\u2019s idleness and disruption distract you from your priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What busybody do you need to set boundaries for today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading: <\/strong>Jeremiah 26:1-27 NIV<\/a>, 2 Thessalonians 3 NIV<\/a>,  Psalm 85 NIV<\/a>,  Proverbs 25:16 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.\u201d (2 Thessalonians 3:11 NIV) Busybodies aren\u2019t busy; they\u2019re idle and disruptive. My mom always used to say, \u201cIdle hands are the devil\u2019s workshop.\u201d  She wasn\u2019t lying. The root word for \u201cbusybody\u201d is periergos.  According to Vine\u2019s Greek New… Continue reading WHO ARE THE BUSY BODIES IN YOUR LIFE?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2598"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions\/2645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}