Proverbs 12:16
A fool's wrath is presently known:
But a prudent man covereth shame.
One by one these proverbs take us through many important behavior definitions. Whether we are to be seen as foolish or wise is not defined by our words, but by our actions, by our responses and reactions to life.
In this case we are taught a principle that if applied, would save marriages, companies, Churches, and many other societal groups. It would literally lower the divorce rate if not eliminate it altogether.
In a more contemporary English, this verse could say, A careless person reacts immediately to injury, while the wise person contains and forgets it.
It is not hypocrisy to let go of an injury, to contain, even to repress the offense done to us. It is obedience to one of God’s greatest commandment. The second part of this commandment is well known, but not the first part; it is the one that says, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am Yahweh. Leviticus 19:18
Of course, if we simply repress it within ourselves, one day it will eventually explode and cause more damage than if it had just vented right away, but this is not the kind of repressing I am talking about. I am talking about giving it as a sacrifice to the lord. A sin separates us from God. To come back near to Him we need an offering. What I am speaking about is offering a guilt offering to God for our sin of anger and grudge against our brother; taking full responsibility of it before God and pay the price for his washing our heart from it. In this way, it is not contained in the ‘old files’ cabinet for later use, but burned and consumed on God’s altar.
The only person we can change is ourself. We cannot change others neither expect them to be different. We might as live with that fact and learn to respond, not react, and give all offenses to God for his ‘consuming’.
A fool's wrath is presently known:
But a prudent man covereth shame.
One by one these proverbs take us through many important behavior definitions. Whether we are to be seen as foolish or wise is not defined by our words, but by our actions, by our responses and reactions to life.
In this case we are taught a principle that if applied, would save marriages, companies, Churches, and many other societal groups. It would literally lower the divorce rate if not eliminate it altogether.
In a more contemporary English, this verse could say, A careless person reacts immediately to injury, while the wise person contains and forgets it.
It is not hypocrisy to let go of an injury, to contain, even to repress the offense done to us. It is obedience to one of God’s greatest commandment. The second part of this commandment is well known, but not the first part; it is the one that says, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am Yahweh. Leviticus 19:18
Of course, if we simply repress it within ourselves, one day it will eventually explode and cause more damage than if it had just vented right away, but this is not the kind of repressing I am talking about. I am talking about giving it as a sacrifice to the lord. A sin separates us from God. To come back near to Him we need an offering. What I am speaking about is offering a guilt offering to God for our sin of anger and grudge against our brother; taking full responsibility of it before God and pay the price for his washing our heart from it. In this way, it is not contained in the ‘old files’ cabinet for later use, but burned and consumed on God’s altar.
The only person we can change is ourself. We cannot change others neither expect them to be different. We might as live with that fact and learn to respond, not react, and give all offenses to God for his ‘consuming’.
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