Four Verses and A Plethora of Wisdom
Proverbs 15:1-4 NASB
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant,
But the mouth of fools spouts foolishness.
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Watching the evil and the good.
4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life,
But perversion in it crushes the spirit.
Yes, I said plethora. I just wanted to use plethora in a devotional. The word does mean an abundance of something, and there is an absolute abundance of wisdom in the first four verses of our chapter for today. If I had to pick my favorite proverb, it would be chapter fifteen because of the amazing amount of wisdom in the thirty-three verses. If you have a moment, take the time to read the chapter slowly. It's a great one!
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but if you want to stir anger up, bring a harsh word. The word 'harsh' can also be translated as 'painful.' Our words can be gentle and kind, or they can hurt. Hurt and anger are often associated together. Our words, our choice.
A wise person makes knowledge acceptable or good. It's one thing to have wisdom in a situation, but how we deliver that wisdom is just as important. One of the ways to make wisdom and knowledge acceptable is to present them gently. See verse one about gentle words.
The eyes of the Lord see the evil and the good. This is so simple, but I saw it today in a new light. We often believe God sees us when we do wrong. God hears us when our words are out of line. And we would be correct. But it's just as true that God sees us when we do good and when our words are filled with love, faith, and hope. God doesn't just see the wrong; He sees the good as well. And most believers I know are doing more good than evil. This isn't a pass to do evil or to keep score, hoping our good outweighs our evil. Our goal is to do and say good all the time. But we do need to acknowledge that our Heavenly Father is looking for the good in us, not just the bad.
And verse four says a soothing or healing tongue is a tree of life. But a perverse or distorted or deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. And that is crushing in a negative sense. My mother used to put Bactine on my scraped knees and cuts. It was a cleansing agent that did not sting. It was soothing. Rubbing alcohol was not soothing. It stung like crazy. Our words can be the same way. Soothing or stinging. And if we take the book of Proverbs as seriously as we should, our words can bring life or death. They can heal or crush.
There is so much wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Our verses today, particularly the ones pertaining to words, are relational gold. Using our words the way God's wisdom lays out can make the difference between hard, strained relationships and relationships that flourish. Our words. Our choice.