Proverbs 27:1-6 — In the name of encouragement, I rebuke you!

READ THIS: Proverbs 27:1-6

1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips. 3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both. 4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

All these verses (except for verse 4) answer the following questions: Who should we accept praise from? Who should we accept rebuke from? How should we respond to rebukes? 

And here are the answers: We should accept praise from others. When we praise ourselves, it can get dangerous. It shows that we are focused on ourselves instead of on serving the Kingdom, and it can lead us to becoming too attached to our own accomplishments and goals. Nothing about tomorrow or our goals is promised, but if we spend all of our time hyping ourselves up, then we might lose track of that fact and put too much stock in ourselves and tomorrow! That being said, when others compliment us, we should value those words! We don't need to act like we aren't awesome, we just don't need to be thinking about it all the time. However, we should be aware that there are some people out there who will just try to flatter us and tell us good things that aren't true about us, so we need to be aware if someone is praising us because we actually did something praiseworthy or if they just want to us puff us up. 

When it comes to rebukes, we should listen to our friends. The people closest to us know our strengths and weaknesses the best, and if we have someone who loves us give us criticism, then we should trust that it is for our betterment. There is a warning here though because some people (some "fools) may just want to provoke us and bother us with criticism that only weighs us down. If that's the case, we need to respond with patience and bear it, but we need to use discernment on if we will apply that criticism.  

That just leaves verse 4! There are two different ways to read that verse. It could be saying that it is the most difficult to deal with someone who is jealous OR it could be saying that, out of all the emotions, jealousy is the hardest to self-regulate. Reread the verse and decide which makes the most sense to you! Feel free to pray about it!!!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. So...which interpretation of verse 4 hits home for you? Which interpretation is the most true from your own personal experience?

2. When is a time that you handled criticism AND encouragement well? Who did it come from? Why could you take it well?

TRY THIS:
 
Think about someone who you admire and think about why. Now, go tell that person what you admire about them! Practice encouraging someone without it being for some ulterior purpose (we don't want to be like the enemies in verse 6, but we do want to be like the outsiders in verse 2)!

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