The Web Site and Blog of Author and Pastor Chris Brauns
Twain was cynical. No question about it. But, lies do sometimes take on a life of their own.
As does gossip.
Proverbs 26:20 states, “For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.”
Don’t add fuel to the fire. Be careful.
There for a while I was on a kick lately of eating chocolate toffee almond nuggets: creamy and sweet.
Unfortunately, when I ate those choice chocolates, I hadn’t seen the last of them. After they have tasted great, they show up just above my belt. As good as they are, they are not worth the calories. When I eat a chocolate, I give it a free pass to head for my stomach and out into my body.
That says, Proverbs is how gossip is.
“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts (Proverbs 18:8).”
So, important is this Proverb, that it is repeated verbatim later in Proverbs 26:22.
Bits of gossip are like chocolate nuggets: smooth and creamy, they melt in your mouth: it tastes good to be in the loop; it is sweet to hear someone else notice the same weaknesses in another that have frustrated you; it feels spiritual to ask for prayer – - gossip and grumbling and complaining are a tempting treat.
But, remember this. As sweet as those gossip nuggets may taste, snacking on them is not the end. Words of gossip accumulate on our spiritual waistlines. They shape the inmost part of our being. Gossip muddies our windshields so that everything looks dirty.
The next time you are tempted to take the tinfoil off a piece of gossip and pop it in your mouth. Think again. Words of gossip go down to our innermost being.
Maybe you’re facing some ugly circumstances in life? That’s how the adventure of life sometimes goes. Tolkien’s, Frodo and Sam dialogue near the end of The Two Towers:
‘I don’t like anything here at all,’ said Frodo, ‘step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But our path is laid.’
‘Yes, that’s so,’ said Sam. ‘And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it is often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually—their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten.
No turning back. There will be “Orcs.” We must persevere.
"for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.(Pr 24:16)."
Proverbs 27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Sluggards make excuses:
“The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”(Proverbs 26:13).”
Leaders kill it.
“And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.(1 Chronicles 11:22).”
Who are you? In asking that question, I do not mean, “What’s your name?” Rather, what is the nature of your heart? What motivates you and moves you forward in life?
Before you answer too quickly, meditate on Proverbs 16:2.
“All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.”
Knowing yourself is not as easy as you might think. There are times when we don’t even know our own motives.
Dietrich Bonehoeffer stood up against Hitler and was eventually executed. But, even shortly before his execution he struggled to know himself. From prison he wrote,
Who am I? . . .
Am I really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself,
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
So, how can we get to know ourselves? The Proverb gives us the answer. “Motives are weighed by the Lord.” It is only as we see ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word – - only as we are sharpened and strengthened in the community of God’s people – - -It is then that we begin to understand ourselves more truly.
If all your friends are named “Beevis,” guess what your name is. Continue reading ‘Birds of a Feather . . .’
“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will hmself call out and not be answered (Proverbs 22:13).”
Read endorsements for Unpacking Forgiveness here.
Click here to order Unpacking Forgiveness.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
A Brick in the Valley
