BODY LANGUAGE

Proverbs 6:12-14 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. (13) He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; (14) Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

The Bible, especially in the book of Proverbs, reveals much about human psychology. It provides us with the keys that help us understand human behavior.

In our culturally Greek influenced culture, we tend to believe that the moral elements of our being are what constitute our belief system. If we think the right way, know the right things and have the proper opinion about things, that what matters. We cannot be expected to be perfect in the physical, so we feel that as long as we believe the right thing, we’re OK. On the contrary though, the Hebrew-style belief that emanates from the Bible, even in the first century messianic Jews of the book of Acts, is that faith without works is dead, or, that what you believe is actually portrayed by your lifestyle and your actions. The author of our text today was a Hebrew, and he knew the truth of the latter.

When people feel challenged about the welfare of their soul, they automatically go into a hiding mode. Using all the right words, they first make mention of their ‘righteous’ belief system, and/or justify themselves in the light of their good deeds. But there is much more hidden than revealed behind these barrages of words, behind this smokescreen of appearances.

According to God, it is neither our philosophy nor our occasional good deeds that stand as the true picture of our lives. It is our overall lifestyle formed by the sum of the condition of our heart. If our heart is right, it is reflected in our everyday natural and uncalculated actions. That is why in this text, a ‘naughty’ person is defined by its ‘ody’language. It works both ways. A righteous person is also defined by it ‘body’ language.