PROVERBS 14
11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.
14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
16 One who is wise is cautiousand turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.
17 A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
– Proverbs 14:11-18
PROVERBS 14 A QUICK TEMPER IS PROOF OF A FOOL
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
There are only two kinds of people in this life: the fool & the wise
The wise watch and give thought to his steps but the fool is careless
The fool thinks he is wise in his own eyes but cannot see what is right
The wise is cautious and turns away from evil so that he can flourish
The fool is quick to be angry and easily makes a fool of himself in public
The wise is humble and knows his place before a holy and true God
If you are a man of God, stay away from quick-tempered fools
You may learn their ways and destructive schemes which lead to death.
I marvel at how Solomon gives us examples of the fruits of darkness and the works of the Spirit in these following verses. If you have lived your life long enough, you will be a testament to these two kingdoms that are so clearly shown in our lives: the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. In 1 John 1:15, we get the revelation that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If you will go back to creation in Genesis 1:3, his first creation is “light”. Prior to light, there was darkness all over. Through John’s book, we are given this revelation that when God’s presence is there, darkness has no way that it will exist. We know from the bible that darkness is associated with evil. Proverbs 4:19 refers to this when Solomon said “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”
I’d like to highlight one of the fruits of darkness in this account: a quick temper. A fruit is a proof of the kind of tree that bore it. So, let’s take the tree of evil which bears fruits of darkness. One of these fruits is “anger” or “quick-temper”. Psychology names many other anger manifestations such as: irritation/annoyance, frustration/displeasure, fury/rage, wrath/blind rage, fear-based anger, paranoid/manipulative anger, retaliatory/vengeful anger, overwhelmed anger, avoidant/passive-aggressive anger, self-abusive/internalized anger, moral/judgment anger. Don’t give in to any of these different forms of anger. The root of all anger is pride and rebellion against God. Don’t be a fool.
REFLECTION
· Which among the types of anger mentioned here is hard to see? How must a believer deal with it?
