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Proverbs 11 is our passage today, and it is full of wisdom - especially for women:
He who belittles another lacks good sense,
whereas a person of discernment stays silent.
13 A gossip goes around revealing secrets,
but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
This bit of wisdom about belittling others is one I learned as a child. I'm thankful for a mother who taught me not to call other children names or laugh at them. I also learned this by my own experience. I had an eye condition that caused my left eye to wander to the side. I was called cross-eyes, and then four-eyes when I started wearing glasses. I knew the pain of ridicule, so I didn't want to do the same to others.
It is disturbing to see how mean women are to each other sometimes. I worked for a bank about ten years ago , and the young women tellers called each other "ho" (short for whore). They'd say, "How you doin', ho?" That only happened to me once, because I very kindly told them I wasn't a whore, and didn't want to be called one. They were shocked. It was a totally new thought to them, and I was made fun of because of it. These young women were unmercifully unkind to each other, and I felt sad watching them destroy each other with their words. And we won't even go into the gossip they loved.
I've heard more than one woman say "women are so catty", but I've been blessed not to deal with much of that (up until I worked at a bank). I think it's because of the blessings of G-dly women in my life, who have been good mentors. As a young woman, I started talking about the pastor one time. My older woman mentor said, "Let's go talk to him about it right now." I shut up real quick and learned not to do that again, about the pastor or anyone else.
My husband and I don't watch much television, and we don't have cable, but I see commercials for sitcoms showing me that belittling and mean behavior are commonplace. I've head that television and movies are just reflections of the current society. If that's true, we are in a very bad place. I believe these forms of entertainment are destructive and are adding to the bullying going on in our country.
I'm so thankful for my husband, who is the kindest person I've ever known and an example and mentor for those around him. Especially for me - I'm with him all day long, and he is consistently righteous.
Proverbs advises not to make fun of others and not to gossip. The wise person will heed this advice.
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Each time I read through Proverbs, something different jumps out at me. This is ADONAI quickening His Word to my heart.
As I go through this month of studying Proverbs, I hope you'll join me and read the chapter, too. I'll share what stands out to me for that day.
I'd love for you to share something He shows you through the day's reading.
I'll be linking these posts to the 31 Days event at The Nester
This 31 day series will focus on the things I learned from Proverbs, as well as some things from Torah study, and will add in a sprinkling of what I've learned from Judaism.
I will be posting daily through October 31. To read the posts, just go to the Labels section on the left, and click on "31 Days of His Wisdom".
I'll be linking these posts to the 31 Days event at The Nester
I'll be sharing with:
A Wise Woman Builds
Thought Provoking Thursday
Hearts for Home
Favorite Things
Faith Filled Friday
Spiritual Sundays
This is such good advice. I love that phrase, "consistently righteous." It can be so tempting to gossip and call it prayer requests. As Christians we should check our motivation when asking for prayer for someone else.
ReplyDeleteBelittling is a really big problem these days, as seen and experienced in our public schools. Bullying, especially, has become an epidemic issue and has caused students to even commit suicide or go on shooting rampages. This all starts in the home and, like you said, through media. We need to pray that God intervenes in people's lives to let them see how damaging this kind of behavior can be and change! Thanks for sharing. I followed you over at Winsome Wednesday blog hop.
ReplyDeleteAnn @ Christ in the Clouds