Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”
Our Bible verse for today: “Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.” Proverbs 26:20 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “A wise person is not fooled by deceitful gossiper.”
As we read through the Proverbs we cannot fail to notice that there are several themes Solomon returns to over and over again. One is the curse of laziness. Another is the foolishness of sexual sin. A third is the damage done by a gossiper.
The person Solomon describes, over and over again, is the deceitful person who smiles to your face and expresses their concern, while attempting to gather personal information or some titillating detail about you that he or she can then share with others (usually embellishing it in the retelling). This kind of person feeds on drama and conflict and loves to keep things stirred up.
In Proverb 26 Solomon provides us with some descriptive verses to help us quickly and easily identify this person:
Verse 23-24: “Smooth lips with an evil heart are like glaze on an earthen vessel. A hateful person disguises himself with his speech and harbors deceit within.” This could be the person who pretends sympathy and concern for you and encourages you to share sensitive personal information, but then they go to another person “confidentially” to share a “prayer request”, just so they can pray for you. (Yes, of course. They’re only violating the confidence you shared with them so they can get others to pray for you.)
Verse 25-26: “When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart. Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his evil will be revealed in the assembly.” This person is a snake in the grass who cannot be trusted. But sooner or later their deceitful ways become apparent to everyone.
As part of the Old Testament Wisdom Literature, God had Solomon write the book of Proverbs to help His people become wise. Because he has repeatedly addressed this issue of the deceitful gossiper, it has to mean that God intends for us to be able to recognize such a person for who he or she is, and then take steps to effectively deal with them.
Confronting and correcting the person is the first and preferred way to deal with them but if that doesn’t work, then as 26:20 suggests, steps must be taken to either remove that person from the situation, or for you to remove yourself and to refuse to have anything further to do with them. Either way, you don’t need a deceitful gossiper in your life.
A wise person is not fooled by a deceitful troublemaker. Instead we confront them, we correct them, and if necessary, we separate ourselves from them. But we are not fooled by them.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 