Proverbs 11:12 The Belittlers Beliefs

4/23/10

Time Spent: 13 min

Main Idea: Those that belittle people are ones which will meet God's judgment and should remain silent instead.

What I learned about God: Judgment upon people should be left for God alone. People should not belittle anyone because that's a case of judgment upon them.

Summary: Verses 9-12 in its context is talking about harmful speech that will bring down a brother. The folly of the fool is in his mouth; slandering and belittling the people around him. However, there are consequences for these sins, which will lead him to destruction. There should be no air of boasting as well, seeing as the man who belittles considers a certain arrogance over the man they belittle. No one stands in that place and thus should not come to judgment upon each other.

Application: To belittle someone has been a common thing that I've done to poke fun at people. I realize that any sort is not just harmful for the person, but harmful to me. I did not know that I was exuding judgment and folly upon myself for a light joke like this. However, this verse makes it crystal clear that these are not the ways of God, but rather are the ways of the fool. I must remember to watch my mouth even when it's joking around with friends or with church people.