I just saw this Facebook post: Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools and accepted by idiots.
Lots of "likes" had sprung up around it. What's not to like? It is the truth, though a bit harshly put. You think this is rough, listen to David's rendition of the same idea in Psalm 12:
Help, Lord, for the godly are no more. The faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor. Their flattering lips speak with deception. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue!"
Okay. I would be lipless. For I have surely lied in my time. Don't look so righteous. You have at least fibbed. Usually to cover your butt. But we do not, hopefully, make a practice of overt deception - lying with abandon with either your own self-interest at stake or the ruining of another's heart and life your aim. I am ashamed that I have lied. I have been forgiven of it and truly want my life to speak truth, as well as my lips.
I have met many habitual liars in my life. The treacherous thing about them is that it takes a while to discover they rarely speak the truth. They are neighbors, coworkers, and people in your church or community. Liars do not wear a sign that says: "Don't believe a thing I say." So we assume they are telling the truth until one day something just doesn't make sense. They are finally found out, but often not until after they have married someone or run off with someone's life savings. Their words can be deadly. But they are not packing a Lying Gun so that you can see right off the danger of hanging around with them.
Proverbs 26: 28: A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. How does lying become hate? Think about it. The one who lies to me all the time thinks I am stupid, for one. I have put my trust in the words this person speaks, so she can tell me anything and I will be dumb enough to believe it. She has stolen my trust to use it for her advantage. The thievery would be more obvious to me if she had taken my purse. Lying is manipulation to the liar's advantage. Only someone who has no regard for you will manipulate you. Someone who hates you enough to use you as a puppet with no feelings.
Watch out for flattery. Liars use it to build you up. A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps. Proverbs 29:5. So funny - when I looked up flatter in dictionary, I found all these words: butter up, suck up to, sweet talk. In other words, over praise. You know what is unfortunate about flattery is that all of us yearn to be affirmed. So when someone says how gorgeous we are, how accomplished, what a great mom, scholar, cook - what a great figure, great eyes, great hair (and by that I don't mean big hair)...and so on, we LOVE it! Our little hearts soak it up because we need to hear that we are wonderful. And we are! But be careful of the over-praiser. He manipulates that need to his advantage, and before you know it, you are caught in a spider's web. Don't be surprised if the flattery ceases then, because it is no longer useful. See how that is hate? The spider is fat and happy - the prey in need of rescue.
How do we escape? We weigh words with character. We guard our hearts, needy as they may be. And we give our hearts to the One Who can be trusted with them. He is our Beloved Who defines who we are. The closer we get to His heart, hear it beat for us and speak its love for us into the core of who we are, the less we feel compelled to listen to those who suck up to us, butter us up and sweet talk in our ears. We have already heard the sweetest words known to man:
I am my Beloved's and He is mine. Song of Solomon 2
Lots of "likes" had sprung up around it. What's not to like? It is the truth, though a bit harshly put. You think this is rough, listen to David's rendition of the same idea in Psalm 12:
Help, Lord, for the godly are no more. The faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor. Their flattering lips speak with deception. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue!"
Okay. I would be lipless. For I have surely lied in my time. Don't look so righteous. You have at least fibbed. Usually to cover your butt. But we do not, hopefully, make a practice of overt deception - lying with abandon with either your own self-interest at stake or the ruining of another's heart and life your aim. I am ashamed that I have lied. I have been forgiven of it and truly want my life to speak truth, as well as my lips.
I have met many habitual liars in my life. The treacherous thing about them is that it takes a while to discover they rarely speak the truth. They are neighbors, coworkers, and people in your church or community. Liars do not wear a sign that says: "Don't believe a thing I say." So we assume they are telling the truth until one day something just doesn't make sense. They are finally found out, but often not until after they have married someone or run off with someone's life savings. Their words can be deadly. But they are not packing a Lying Gun so that you can see right off the danger of hanging around with them.
Proverbs 26: 28: A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. How does lying become hate? Think about it. The one who lies to me all the time thinks I am stupid, for one. I have put my trust in the words this person speaks, so she can tell me anything and I will be dumb enough to believe it. She has stolen my trust to use it for her advantage. The thievery would be more obvious to me if she had taken my purse. Lying is manipulation to the liar's advantage. Only someone who has no regard for you will manipulate you. Someone who hates you enough to use you as a puppet with no feelings.
Watch out for flattery. Liars use it to build you up. A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps. Proverbs 29:5. So funny - when I looked up flatter in dictionary, I found all these words: butter up, suck up to, sweet talk. In other words, over praise. You know what is unfortunate about flattery is that all of us yearn to be affirmed. So when someone says how gorgeous we are, how accomplished, what a great mom, scholar, cook - what a great figure, great eyes, great hair (and by that I don't mean big hair)...and so on, we LOVE it! Our little hearts soak it up because we need to hear that we are wonderful. And we are! But be careful of the over-praiser. He manipulates that need to his advantage, and before you know it, you are caught in a spider's web. Don't be surprised if the flattery ceases then, because it is no longer useful. See how that is hate? The spider is fat and happy - the prey in need of rescue.
How do we escape? We weigh words with character. We guard our hearts, needy as they may be. And we give our hearts to the One Who can be trusted with them. He is our Beloved Who defines who we are. The closer we get to His heart, hear it beat for us and speak its love for us into the core of who we are, the less we feel compelled to listen to those who suck up to us, butter us up and sweet talk in our ears. We have already heard the sweetest words known to man:
I am my Beloved's and He is mine. Song of Solomon 2
No comments:
Post a Comment