“One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

If you are having any success or making progress on something then it would be wise to watch for those will try and trip you up.  It might be the competitor that has had a tough time getting traction behind you. Or it could be the fellow employee who appears they are on the team and supportive but have an ulterior motive to get ahead of you. However, this doesn’t mean that we can ignore or run away from those who might be suspect.  Nor, can we try and just turn the table and make the other person out to be the bad guy.  Why can’t we do this?  Because, we all need each other, we just don’t know when or where we will need another.  Because of this, we are better off just being well aware of how we might be tripped up and use preparation as the best defense and also do all that we can to make sure that trip is not an unforced error.

Even Jesus was the target of those who wanted to see him trip.  Jesus’ example for us is something we can carry into many of our work and life situations.  When someone tries to trip or tie us up with what we think, thought, or will be thinking, we can always turn the table back with our own return question to them.  When we do this we can take the other person off the offensive, demonstrate actual interest in them, and then let their answer further what would be our answer.  And, when we do this, we show any and all that we can control our own temperament and demeanor, which goes a long way in being different than most everyone else.

Reference: Luke 10:25 (New Living Translation)