Don’t Be a Fussy Person
Key Verse to Read and Treasure
It’s better to live alone in a corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home (Proverbs 25:24, NLT)
For Insight
Are you a fussy person? Do you tend to fuss about, just about everything? Some people are fussy by nature. They fuss over and about anything and everything. Fussy people used to drive me nuts and give me a tension headache. I don’t tolerate fussiness very well; it’s not my point. I now understand fussiness as a spiritual and temperament matter and don’t let fussy people impact me to the point where my own nerves are worn thin, or my own disposition is impacted.
Fussiness is showing unnecessary or excessive concern about something. Jesus admonished Martha about her fussy nature (Luke 10). She was fussing because her sister Mary would not help her in the kitchen. I’m sure she was fussing under her breath a long time before she even tried to bring Jesus into her fussing so He could start fussing as well. Which is what fussy people love to do!
Solomon wrote on three different occasions how a fussy spouse could drive the other person away and said it’s better to live alone than occupy the same space as fussy person. If you’re a male reading Solomon’s words in this proverb don’t gloat, because fussiness is not limited to women, men can also have a fussy nature and it’s not an attractive trait for either male or female to have.
When we are fussy, we are not trusting in God. You can’t be fussy and trusting in God to provide or make a way or make things work out as He wants. When we are fussy, we are not seeing beyond ourselves or the situation in front of us. We are thinking we are the only ones who know the (right) way to get something accomplished and we are sending a message that others are not as thorough, perfect, adept, capable as we are. We are micro-managing. We are focused on one issue or aspect of something that’s part of a bigger picture. We are getting in God’s way. We are obsessing over something that should not have that much influence, impact on, or control over us. we are giving into a nature we don’t need to entertain. We are the devil’s best friend and cohort.
If your friends, family, or co-workers are avoiding you, you might ask yourself if you are carrying a fussy spirit. Try listening to yourself as you are talking to others; what’s coming out of your mouth? How do others respond to you? The only one who does not run from fussy people are other fussy people and, of course, the devil, who is also fussy by nature and neither one of those are good company to keep. No matter how well dressed you are, how pretty or handsome on the outside, being fussy will make you appear unattractive and unlikeable.
Good news! We are not doomed to fussiness or remaining fussy all our life. God can take our fussiness and turn it into a sweet spirit and disposition. Others will like us more, and more importantly we will like ourselves more. Through the Holy Spirit, God will transform us so we are not like the world that is forever fussing over and about something, but we can be more like Him because we are made in His image. God loves it when we reflect His image in every area of our life. We don’t represent him well when we are fussing!
Praying Proverbs 25:24
Lord God, You are Lord of life, bringing abundant life, not death. We don’t get our fussy nature from You. That kind of nature and attitude comes from the world and the devil. Neither one of those are the attitude or temperament we need to be aiming for. When we are being fussy point it out to us and help us desire change in our attitude and temperament. Amen
Prayer Challenge
When you hear yourself fussing ask yourself if that is a clear indication you are not trusting in God for that matter or situation then begin praying for God to turn your fussiness into listening for and trusting in him instead of fussing.
Digging Deeper
Devotionally Yours 