What do you do when someone criticizes you, mocks you, or throws words meant to wound, the instinct is simple:
Fire back.
Defend yourself.
Match their tone, their volume, their level.

But the moment you react like that, you’ve already descended.
You’re playing the game on the ground.

The bible gives us a better solution, something I call the Eagle Principle.

Believers are compared to eagles, not sparrows, not pigeons—eagles.
“They shall mount up with wings like eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31)
Eagles don’t flap around in low-altitude chaos. They find the wind, tilt their wings, and let elevation do the work.

God Himself uses this image when speaking of His care:
“I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Exodus 19:4)
He lifts.
He raises.
He trains His people to live higher than the noise around them.

Rising above the daily irritations—the petty remarks, the subtle digs, the unkind assumptions—isn’t just emotional maturity.
It’s character success, and character success always precedes visible success.

So the next time someone tries to pull you into the dust…
Smile.
Find the wind.
Go higher.

Eagles don’t waste energy fighting snakes on the ground—they take them to the sky where the battle is already won.