Proverbs 27:14-27 New International Version (NIV)
14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.
15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. 17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored. 19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.[a] 20 Death and Destruction[b] are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.
21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them. 23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;24 for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. 25 When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, 26 the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. 27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.
Saturday- July 18 - Proverbs 27:14-27 I think the wise thing to do would be to let you deal with verse 15 on your own! But verses 17 through 22 give us wisdom to understand adversity and trials. Verse 17 highlights that just as iron is used to sharpen other pieces of iron to make a sharp knife or sword that is far more useful, we can also “sharpen” each other. But that sharpening is not soft and easy. It often includes pain, struggle, and suffering. Verse
21 illustrates that how we respond to praise is a test that can make us better just as
precious metals are made better through a refining process. It is nice to receive praise, but how do you respond to praise? With humility? With thanks for recognition of hard work? As encouragement to continue to work hard with integrity? Or do you use praise to inflate our ego and puff ourselves up? Just like a loving parent, God only disciplines those He loves so that they might grow ans become stronger. And we already know that God loves us.