TO AVOID LOOKING FOOLISH
Proverbs 29:11, 20 NKJV
11 A fool vents all his feelings,
But a wise man holds them back.
20 Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
No one wants to be known as a fool. Many of us can remember in the past when we did something that turned out really wrong, and we looked foolish. Reminds me of a '70s R&B song, Everybody Plays The Fool. I am turning red just thinking about some of the things I did.
So, if I can avoid looking foolish, I am all in. But looking foolish to the world and looking Bible foolish are two different things. Investing time, money, and energy into the Kingdom of God appears foolish to the world that does not acknowledge the greatness of God. But it sure looks smart to our Heavenly Father. However, there are some things that make us look foolish in Heaven's eyes that the world considers no big deal.
The first one is totally counterintuitive to the way the world thinks. "A fool vents all his feelings.." Yep, that's how so many live today. Don't hold back. Don't hold it in. You have to vent, or it's going to eat you up inside. But the Scripture says that a wise man holds his feelings back. And from a spiritual, scriptural standpoint, that is the wisest thing we can do. The proverbs state that death and life are in the power of the tongue. When someone is spewing out their feelings, typically, these are not good feelings. It's not the good feelings that people vent. The negatives and the bitterness are what is vented. And spewing negatives, anger, and bitterness is not moving us closer to an answer. Actually, negative venting is not letting things out; it's establishing them even stronger in our lives. We know to speak life. Venting is a foolish path.
The second thing to avoid looking foolish also deals with our words. Too quick to speak is the foolish path. I imagine if I asked everyone reading or listening to this devotional if they have ever spoken too quickly and regretted it, the response would be overwhelmingly affirmative. Most regrets center around the things we said, not the things we did not say. And being a verbal person, I can speak to this proverb as an expert witness. James would later write the church to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. The world that does not acknowledge God places very little emphasis on words. But to those of us who are following the Lord, we know our words matter.
Turning these proverbs around, we can say that to look like a wise person, we hold back on our feelings. We don't vent the negatives. Instead, we discipline our tongue to speak life. I call this a discipline because our natural tendency is to speak the way we feel. But we have God's Word to guide us into speaking life over ourselves and our situation. That is the path of godly wisdom.
And a wise person is not quick with their mouth. I told a minister once that I was quick with my mouth because I was quick on my feet. He was gracious and did not call me a fool. But he did suggest that it's okay to be quick on your feet, but that does not mean you have to be quick with your words. He was right, and I am getting better.
To look really, really Bible smart, hold back on your feelings, and slow down your response.