Thrive on Less Flies: Protecting Yourself from People Who Never Change

Few creatures test our patience like flies. They buzz endlessly, get into your face, swarm around your food, and refuse to leave no matter how often you swat them away. They seem determined to irritate and invade, yet never wise enough to change their course. Strangely, the more you think about it, the more you see how some people behave just the same.

The Nature of Flies—and the Nature of Some People

• Annoying by design: Just as flies hover around your face, some people thrive on being a constant nuisance. “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife” (Proverbs 21:9). Some people seem to thrive on stirring up irritation.
• Drawn to your food: Flies are always after what isn’t theirs. Likewise, some people hover around your blessings, looking for a way to consume your time, your resources, or your peace. “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied” (Proverbs 13:4).
• Relentlessly foolish: A fly will bump into the same window over and over, never realizing there is no way through. Some people live in the same cycle of bad choices, drama, and chaos—never learning, never changing. “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” (Proverbs 26:11).
• Attracted to false light: Flies race toward light sources, often burning themselves on lamps or flames. People too can be drawn to what seems bright or glamorous, only to be consumed by the very thing they chase. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Why They Never Change

You can’t reason with a fly. No amount of talking, pleading, or training will alter its nature. In the same way, there are people so fixed in their patterns that expecting change is wasted energy. “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words” (Proverbs 23:9).

Protecting Yourself from the “Flies”

The solution is not to reform flies but to protect yourself from them. That means:

• Boundaries: Keep your “food” covered—your time, your energy, your gifts. Not everyone deserves access. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).
• Discernment: Recognize who is truly open to growth and who is simply buzzing around for chaos. “Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
• Detachment: Swat once, then move on. Don’t let their persistence drag you into endless conflict. “Avoid foolish controversies… because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9).
• Focus on what matters: Flies will always exist, but you don’t have to live distracted by them. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).

Thriving on Less

To thrive on less is to live with less irritation, less drama, and less wasted effort on people who will never change. Protect your peace, guard your blessings, and focus on what brings life rather than what drains it.

Flies will always buzz—but you don’t have to give them space to land.