Proverbs 12:16 - "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult." 13:3 - "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly comes to ruin." 15:1 - "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." 15:28 - "The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil."
I never thought of myself as "playing the fool," but in my younger days I did it a lot. Why? Because I used to always retaliate when I thought I had been insulted or belittled in some way. By "younger days," I do not mean in my teens, but after I was a grown man. This means that I did some retaliation as a pastor, which is really, really stupid. I mellowed as time went on, because I realized that my sharp tongue was not getting me anywhere. Eventually, I learned how to overlook things people said and not take it to heart. When we retaliate instead of overlooking things that people say, we always speak rashly. This means that what we say is something that we should not have said. Another lesson I learned as time went on, was that "a gentle (soft) answer turns away wrath. " It not only makes a difference in what we say in response to what people say to us, but in how we say it as well. That was a valuable lesson for me to learn, because "a harsh word stirs up anger." If we really want to have good relationships with people be careful how we say what we say to them. (Not good grammar, but I hope you get my point.) If someone waits on me at a restaurant, for example, their demeanor and attitude makes a difference to me. I like to give nice tips, but it is easier when the server talks gently, and acts like he or she enjoys waiting on people. I try to remember this in my own relationships. A great lesson that I've learned is to think before I speak. "But the mouth of the wicked gushes evil," means that when we speak without thinking, we say the wrong thing. An "evil" word does not have to be an ugly word, it can be a word that hurts instead of helps. I like for people to think before they speak to me; therefore, I have learned that I should do the same. I'm glad I learned these lessons from Proverbs, and I hope that you will learned these lessons as well. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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