Flexibility is a very good quality to cultivate. It means to bend and give and have some adjustability in relationships and situations. We can go with the flow and that makes us easy to be around. The opposite is a hard brittleness that no one enjoys.

Yet, there is a time to be unyielding and this quote from Thomas Jefferson nails it. He said: “Only lay down true principles and adhere to them inflexibly.” In this case it means NOT going with the flow because the flow is going the wrong way.

When children beg their parents for permission to do something questionable by saying everyone is doing it, parents often retort with the classic line: “If everyone was jumping off a cliff would you jump too?”

The thing is that it’s hard to adhere to true principles inflexibly if you’ve never decided which are your true principles. If you don’t say to yourself: ‘I don’t lie’ then when an occasion comes along in which lying is the easiest and most convenient path you will probably lie.

Deciding up front to follow God’s commands is the way to go. Proverbs 3:1 wisely tells us: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you.’

The really true principles are found in God’s Word. Follow them. That’s when to be inflexible.