Proverbs 17
I would offer that the word love is not a verb, it is a noun. It is not a thing you do. It is the light that you are made of and what you were created to be.
Sensibility
1 Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting-and conflict.
2 A wise servant will rule over the master’s disgraceful son and will share the inheritance of the master’s children.
3 Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart.
4 Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.
5 Those who mock the poor insult their maker; those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished.
6 Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.
7 Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler.
8 A bribe is like a lucky charm; whoever gives one will prosper!
9 Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.
11 Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.
12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.
13 If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house.
14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out.
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent- both are detestable to the Lord.
16 It is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.
17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
18 It’s poor judgment to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for a friend.
19 Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.
20 The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble.
21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool; there is no joy for the father of a rebel.
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
23 The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.
24 Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
25 Foolish children bring grief to their father and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.
26 It is wrong to punish the godly for being good or to flog leaders for being honest.
27 A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.
28 Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent. (NLT)
insights
Sensibility covers a lot of ground. Those who are sensible in our society stand out. They seem to always know what to do and how to do it. This chapter is full of wisdom nuggets that when incorporated into one’s lifestyle, result in sensibility.
Proverbs 17:13
When we choose to belittle others who have done us no harm, or to treat someone who has shown us kindness with a lack of respect, we invite the enemy into our lives. There is a constant battle going on for our very souls. Those of us that cannot relate to that in terms of spiritual warfare, may more easily grasp it in terms of what gives us life, and what pulls us away from life.
Our actions that are birthed in love bring us life, while our actions birthed of fear, hostility, or any negative emotion, drains the life from us. God wants us to be victorious, and sent His Son to teach us how it can be ours when we act with biblical sensibility. We release our need to control, refuse to allow the petty things in life to rob us of our joy, and trust Him to be our defender.
Proverbs 17:24
It is said that the curse of our age is busyness. In decades past, sensibility put forth simple ideas for living, like doing one thing at a time. In 1986, Robert Fulghum published a book titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”. You can read an excerpt from that book here. The insights in it embody the idea of sensibility, and how as we have grown up we have lost it.
It is commonplace for us, in our multi-tasking world, to have our attention scattered in all directions and end up doing all kinds of things, but doing none of them well. God wants us to focus on what is really important. This is easily understood in terms of the world we live in today, but I wonder what the context was when this was written…”a fools eyes wander to the ends of the earth”? Did it speak to day dreaming or wanderlust? For me it is just another example of God’s word being timeless.
Proverbs 17:28
Sometimes God just wants us to laugh and have fun, and this proverb’s wisdom is so obvious that I decided to have a little fun with it, and give you a good laugh at the same time.
Jeanne Robertson went to be with the Lord on August 21, 2021, and currently, I am certain, is laughing with Jesus in heaven (probably at all of us). She was a past president of the National Speakers Association and a recipient of nearly every award given by them.
Her witty humor, which honors sensibility and evokes side splitting laughter at just about everything else, especially ‘church people’, lives on in the many videos of her speaking engagements.
I could not pick just one video, so here is a link to her YouTube channel.
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