The Lie That You Can Handle It

The proverb asks, can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? It is a question with only one answer, and the writer knows it. He is speaking about a man tangled with another man's wife, but the principle reaches straight into our fight. We tell ourselves we can get close to the thing without being harmed by it. We can watch just to the edge, browse right up to the line, keep the tempting thing nearby and trust ourselves to stop before it costs us anything. The proverb calls this what it is, a physical impossibility. Fire held against the body burns the body; that is what fire does, regardless of our intentions or our confidence. The pride in us insists we are the exception, that we have enough control to play near the flame, and that pride has cost many good men more than they ever meant to pay. There is real humility in admitting you cannot handle it, and that humility is a kind of safety. You do not have to test how close you can get. Ask God for the honesty to stop pretending you are fireproof, and for the sense to keep the fire out of your hands in the first place.