Snapshots
Biblical Truth
OF
The Arrogant Fool
BIBLE REFERENCE:
Psalms 14:1 (NIV) “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
Proverbs 8:12-14 (NIV) “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power.”
Proverbs 17:27, 28 (NIV) “A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.”
Proverbs 18: 21 (NIV) “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Romans 1:21, 23 (NIV) “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Romans 1: 28; 32 (NIV) “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind; to do what ought not to be done. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them”
James 1:26 (NIV) “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
APPLICATION:
Stop and listen to the flow of words swirling around you in your everyday conversations; even the written words you read daily in your local news paper. More likely than not the words are negative words filled with arrogance, pride, anger and down right hate. Not much of it is uplifting and encouraging.
Many people even say derogatory things about God. Even in their normal, everyday talk. Some of these people don’t even believe God exists, yet will go to great lengths to blame and curse him for every problem and misfortune life brings their way. How intelligent is this?
James hit it right on the mark when he spoke about the unruly tongue we are unable to control and tame (James Chapter 3). This problem seems to be epidemic today; many people speak way beyond their intelligence level and talk about things they know little or nothing about. We all have this tendency to some degree. We allow our tongue to do the thinking for us. We say things that later we wish we could stuff back into our mouths.
James tells us that our religion is not worth very much if we can’t keep a “tight reign” on our tongue” (James 1:26). Thinking before we speak, controlling what comes out of our mouth is one of the smartest things we can do as an intelligent human being.
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A PRAYER:
“God help me to gain control over my tongue and not blurt out everything that comes to my mind. Help me to speak only encouraging, healing, faith filled words not words that stir up strife and cause harm to others and you.”
SNAPSHOT:
