"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 15:1-3
The first verse here is a very popular one that a lot of people have likely come across before, but combined with the others here I think it gives a slightly different message than when it is pulled out individually... not that the message is bad either way of course. Just I also like it in context.
The first verse seems to talk about how to deal with conflict... avoiding yelling and bitterness perhaps, but when we add in the next verse, it becomes not just about anger and arguments, but about everything we say, and thinking before we speak. Using knowledge aright means there is definitely a wrong way to use it as well... and in combination with the first verse, presumably one of the wrong ways is arguing and in anger. It seems worthwhile to explore the question "What are good ways that we can use knowledge?" in our lives, and to remember that there *are* bad ways.
The last verse of the selection reminds us that God is always watching. I don't think this is meant in a 1984/Big Brother way, or even in a Santa/"He sees you when you're sleeping" way, but only as a reminder that there is evil and good in EVERYTHING we do, and we need to be as careful of how we express ourselves as we are of who we express ourselves to, and what we say. If we wouldn't say a certain thing or use a certain tone with our boss, or our grandmother, or whoever it is that we respect, then we should probably recheck the way we are saying or expressing ourselves to those we don't respect. God's laws are for everyone, not just those that we like.
Today, let's try to incorporate soft answers into our lives more, and use our knowledge in right, good, and positive ways.
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