Title: Lowering the Mind
Contents
- Proverbs 16:16-33 Honeycomb and raging fire
Today's Proverbs also contrasts the way of the wicked, who deceives evil and seduces people, with the lives of wise men who humbly pay attention to God's Word, showing the conclusion that in the end, everything is done according to God's sovereignty. Seeing the words of wisdom that seem to be repeated over and over again, but never the same, I earnestly thought that it would be good to give them a spirit of discernment.
First of all, verse 16 declares that acquiring wisdom and understanding is more precious than anything else in the world. It is a recurring, so important word in Proverbs. In verses 17 and 18, the honest heart and the proud heart are compared. The standard depends on one's own path, that is, whether one is properly following the path one should take or the path one has been given. If we deviate from the path given to us, that is, if we deviate freely from the Lord's orbit, we will fall and be destroyed.
So, how can you discern what your path is? Of course, the Bible does not give a personal answer to this. However, looking at verses 19 and 20, it shows that we can discern through a life attitude that pays attention to the word of the Lord with a humble heart. However, it is said that in order to humble yourself, you must be with the humble, but you cannot gain it by sharing your life with the proud. A humble attitude is also important here, but I think it means someone who is actually lacking in terms of economics and worldly standards. In fact, it is not that there are not many things that the world lacks, or if you are with people who are economically affluent, you are not without various benefits and benefits that you sometimes get. Simply put, there is a lot of unexpected income. In today's text, it is expressed as “share the spoils with the proud.” However, as you get used to “sharing loot” like this, you will become proud of or yearn for such a relationship without even realizing it, and then you may feel that your heart is naturally proud of you.
It's still a short life experience, but personally, the academic background of the people around me has gradually improved. In the past, my surroundings were full of re-educators and third-year students, then college students were full, and now they are full of doctors and professors. Of course, these changes in the environment are not my fault. But when I start to indulge in working with PhDs and professors, I think it's very likely that I will soon move away from "lowering the mind with the humble." Actually, when I go to school, there is no difference between me who was unlucky, the me in college, and the me in my master's, but already undergraduates and master's students feel burdened by being with me. The problem is that I, too, sometimes find it difficult to spend a long time with undergraduates or juniors. Every time that happens, I feel that I need to honestly look back on myself and repent. Because I am a miserable person who has not changed anything on the inside and, in fact, has nothing higher than a higher degree.
So, the community of the church is a space where training to lower the heart and break me who has become arrogant like this takes place naturally. If you really only come to church, you still can't see the position, degree, or hierarchical structure of various human relationships in the world. Even if it sometimes causes mistakes in worldly standards, the church community should be able to show by life that the laws of the world never work.
However, since those who truly “become lowly in spirit with the humble” are “the wise in heart,” in verse 21, not only do they receive praise from those around them for their understanding, but also the kind words of their lips “increase the learning of others.” . How can we “have a good mouth and increase the learning of others”? I'm really curious about this. So I am truly hopeful. This is because the more intelligent a person is, the more often they become exhausted and humble in their minds, rather than adding to the learning of the listener through their words. I thought it was the right opinion, and I persuaded it strongly, but the other person doesn't even take my point of view. Furthermore, they do more wrongly with antipathy. It's really upsetting when this happens. This is because how to speak wisely is not just a matter of skill, but rather a more essential and profound level.
Today's text compares the results of these lips in two major ways. In verse 24, good words are likened to honeycombs, and in verse 27, words from bad lips are likened to “a raging fire.” I may have spit a lot of words like “a raging fire,” but I've seen and received a lot. The result is found in verses 28 through 30. That is, words such as “a raging fire” stir up quarrels or separate close friends. Also, they lead their neighbors into bad ways, and they try to persuade them to do rebellious things. If you open a newspaper, you can easily find everything from the front page headlines to the editorials of the newspaper. It is a feast of proud words like “a raging fire.” They all seem to love the country, seem to be for peace, and seem to be humanitarian, but after reading that article, the feelings that remain are not love, peace, and humanitarianism, but anger, irritation, and division. So there were times when I deliberately didn't touch the newspapers or the media for months. But there is no way to stop the “flaming fire” utterances that seem to hide and pop out of my bad lips.
On the other hand, it is said, “Good words are like honeycombs, sweet to the heart and healing to the bones.” When you say something like a honeycomb, it is easy to think of only compliments or good encouragement. Of course, such praise and encouragement can be heard, but it will be difficult to become good medicine for the bones. How can you be healthy to the depths of your bones by listening to only sweet words? Therefore, I believe that words as good as the honeycomb mentioned in Proverbs are words from a wise heart, as in verse 23, “The heart of a wise man makes his mouth prudent, and his lips add knowledge.” Genuine words reflect the state of mind almost unfiltered. Once we get hurt by someone, even if we don't explode with emotions right away, it's our instinct that we need to spit out bad words sometime in order to get our minds off.
So, first of all, we must protect our hearts so that they do not get hurt. See verse 32. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his heart is better than he who takes a city.” We often fire our oar to be praised as a hero. In order to take away the castle, the peace of mind is taken away. But the Bible doesn't say that. It is said that those who are slow to anger are those who control their hearts, and only such people will truly become warriors and takers of the city.
Today, all around us, rob us of peace of mind and full day to shine the furnace. The same is true of the news I see, but at the same time, it is the relationships and conversations with people I meet around me who do not appear on the news. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his heart is better than he who takes a city.” Behind the seemingly weak and foolish rule of mind at times, there is a thorough trust in God's sovereignty and rule. Without this belief, we could never die or lose in the world. I hope that today will be a day when we confess that “everything is determined by the Lord” and give the sovereignty of our hearts to God.