Day 15 — Drama-Free

“Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.”

— Proverbs 26:20 (BSB)

“Did you hear what she said about you?” “Don’t tell anyone, but…” “She’s not your real friend. She told me…” “Can you believe what she was wearing?”

Sound familiar? Sometimes friendships between girls can get tangled up in drama: rumors, secrets, whispering, taking sides, and friends who are best friends one day and not speaking the next.

Drama can feel exciting, in a way. Knowing a secret or being “in the loop” can make you feel important. But drama hurts people, and it almost always makes things worse.

Proverbs gives a simple picture. Think about a campfire. What keeps a fire burning? Wood! As long as someone keeps adding sticks, it keeps going. But if nobody adds any more wood, what happens? The fire slowly burns down and goes out.

“Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.”

Gossip is like wood on the fire of drama. Every time someone passes along a rumor, repeats what someone said or talks behind someone’s back, they’re throwing another log on the fire. And the fire grows bigger and hotter.

But you can choose not to add wood! When gossip comes to you, you can let it stop with you. You don’t have to pass it on. And when enough people stop adding wood, the fire goes out.

Here are some ways to be drama-free:

• Don’t pass it on. When you hear gossip, let it stop with you.
• Go to the person directly. If you have a problem with a friend, talk to her, kindly, instead of talking about her.
• Don’t take sides in every fight. You can care about both friends.
• Change the subject. “Hey, did you finish the science project?”
• Say something kind. When others are criticizing someone, say something good about her instead.
• Don’t believe everything you hear. Rumors are often not true.

Being drama-free doesn’t mean you’ll never have problems with friends. It means handling them in a way that puts out fires instead of starting them.

Think about it: What’s one kind of “drama” that happens often among girls you know? How could you help put out the fire?

Try this: The next time someone tells you gossip, let it stop with you. Don’t pass it on, and change the subject.

Dear God, I don’t want to add wood to the fire of drama. Help me stop gossip when it comes to me. Help me talk to my friends, not about them. Make me a peacemaker who helps put out fires. In Jesus’ name, Amen.