Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 11:12

Proverbs 11

12 Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.

Sometimes it seems the most natural thing in the world to belittle or disrespect your neighbour. Before you know it, its out of our mouths, ‘what a load of rubbish,’ ‘how selfish is that,’ ‘they don’t know what they are talking about.’ Your general thought might be ‘how misguided they are’.
It is often the hardest thing for us to bite our tongue and stop words of criticism flowing out. At the end of the day, who benefits from that criticism. It inflames them if they get to hear about it and it poisons you against them as you look down your nose at them – pride kicks in and starts to rule your thoughts as you constantly look at others with distain. A very unattractive attribute.

It is a lot easier to bite your tongue if the disdainful thought doesn’t enter your mind in the first place. That really stems of poverty of Spirit. To think of others more highly than yourself. To take the log out of your own eye before you try to take the speck out of the other persons.

When we start to think like that and regard ourselves truly then we stand a chance of controlling that tongue that can lead us into such danger.

James 3

5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Wisdom literature also tells us there are times to speak and times to be silent.

As with times that we think – Oh I wish I hadn’t said that, there will be times when we say, I am so glad I didn’t say that. We may have discovered later that we didn’t have the full story.

I recall a time when someone pulled out of a car park infront of me oblivious that I was coming. In indignation I tooted my horn and thought what an idiot. Look where you are going you could have caused an accident. The car stopped at the junction ahead and this big stern looking fellow got out of the car and walked over to me. He appologised and said that his grandchild was just being flown a way to hospital and he wasn’t thinking straight. More grace in him than me don’t you think. I didn’t know the full story when I reacted. Understanding on my part would have been a far better response.

So wisdom is holding your tongue and exercising the grace that we have been given.