Proverbs 30:10-14 — Mouths and Eyes

READ THIS: Proverbs 30:10-14

10 “Do not slander a servant to their master, or they will curse you, and you will pay for it. 11 “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; 12 those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; 13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; 14 those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Man... this passage got heavy quick.

These verses give us a description of people who are certainly not living wisely or righteously, and there are two parts of the body in particular that seem to be the source of their struggle: their mouths and their eyes! From their mouths, we see slander (also known as gossip), curses, and words being used as weapons that hurt the poor and needy. From their eyes, we see hypocrisy (seeing themselves as better than how they really are), judgment as they look down on others, and looking at others with a lack of respect (that's what "disdainful" means).

There's one big sin that sums up a lot of these actions: pride. Pride can be defined as "excessively loving one's own excellence." In short... it means you think you're a lot better than anybody else around you. When we think of ourselves as better than others, we can think that we have the right to talk however we'd like to others. Whether they are in the room or not... whether it would hurt them or not... we can say what we want because we know best. Pride can make us look down on others and not treat them with respect. Pride can even make us say words we'd never want to hear spoken to us, cutting others deeply like we are using knives or swords.

Jesus is the definition of the opposite of pride... He chose to be humble. When people treated Jesus poorly, He loved them. He never looked down on us for being sinners or awful people. Instead, He served us, cared for us, healed us, taught us, and ultimately died for us. And now, He calls us to live like He did! Let's let go of pride, and of our messed us mouths and eyes, and start living like Jesus!

THINK ABOUT IT:
 
1.  Did any of these not so great behaviors stick out to you? Where have you fallen short in these areas before?

2. Think about that area you have fallen short in from question 1... how could modeling Jesus's humility change how you act?

TRY THIS:
 
Check out this passage from Philippians 2:5-8 that talks all about Christ's humility! Read it all, then go back and just read verse 5! Challenge yourself to live like Jesus in all of your relationships this week.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!






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