I had decided that I was not going to mess with fools, but then I realized that I could not get away from myself. There is no way I could totally remove myself from the “fools” around me because I am just as big of a fool as anyone.

We often use the term fool to mean someone who is lacking intelligence or common sense, but the Bible uses it to mean one who is morally deficient. In Psalm 14, we see that a fool is someone who says that there is no God (verse 1). Now, if you are like me, you are probably defending yourself and saying that you have never denied God. That’s what I thought, until I thought about it.

Denying God is not always standing up in a group of people and yelling, “God does not exist.” Since actions speak louder than words, we might be denying God without saying a word. Actually, we must be, because the psalm continues by saying that there in no one that is good (verse 1) and that all have turned away (verse 3). All of us turning away is echoed in Romans 3:23, which says we have all sinned, and fallen short.

“That’s all well and good. I’ve sinned, yes, but I’ve never denied God.”

How do you treat other people, especially if you claim to be a Christian and never deny God? What about that “idiot” that rides your bumper, or pulls out in front of you? What about those people in public office who don’t know their rear end from a hole in the ground?

I ask that having done the same things. It doesn’t seem like we’re denying God. I mean, they annoy us, we can complain about them. But what is the motivation for our words? Why do they annoy us? Probably because they didn’t do something according to our plans. Could that mean that we think we are better, or at least more informed, than they are? Surely not. But that is exactly what I believe it means. We don’t get annoyed or angry because someone pulled out in front of a car, but because it was our car. They caused us to be inconvenienced.

Show me where Jesus gives permission to yell at someone when they pull out in front of your donkey (they didn’t have cars, so bear with me on the paraphrasing, please). Where did He say that you can rant and rave because your tax break failed to pass?

We are supposed to love one another (Matthew 22:34-40). If we are constantly bickering, and excusing that behavior, we are denying what Jesus said. Since Jesus is God, we are denying God. We are therefore fools.

Yes, we will mess up and get aggravated, but that is my point. We are not perfect; I mess up every day. It might be more severe some days, but the fact is, I do foolish things. I cannot rid myself of fools, because I am the biggest one around me.