Proverbs 12:19-20

¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. ²⁰ Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

Flatter a bit

         How do you have peace when negative things about yourself are obvious?

There’s a fictional story when a wife was concerned about her appearance. “My hair is graying; my skin has wrinkles; I am becoming ugly! Flatter me a bit and say positive things about me that I may fell good for just a little bit,” she told her husband. Her husband obliged, “Well truly, you’ve got very good eyesight!”

         There are endless reasons that may cause anxiety or bad feelings. The wife can see clearly at her gray hair and wrinkles. She observed parts of herself she did not like. Senior citizens could be grateful that they’ve grown old. Well, not everyone can grow old. Outlook in life affects behavior positively or negatively.

         Someone said, “I don’t read newspapers; I don’t watch the news; it makes me anxious.” Another one added, “I don’t go window shopping; it only makes me feel bad that I cannot buy things that attract me!” Still others claim, “I don’t watch the game; it only makes me feel bad when my favorite team lost the game!”

         What can make you anxious? What makes you thankful and praise God?

Let us reflect on what King David stipulated in 1 Chronicles 16:8-12.

⁸Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. ⁹Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ¹⁰Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. ¹¹Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. ¹²Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.

         The command to praise God should not be forced. It’s proper to be grateful when God blesses us. It also amplifies positive attitude in us to praise the Lord.

         We can easily find negative things that cause anxiousness if we’re focused on ourselves. If we are focused on others, we can easily find something that may cause us to envy. But envy cannot control us; anxiousness cannot affect us when we are focused upon the Lord. His Holy Spirit gives us peace and thankful heart.

         Christian life is favorable, why? Through faith in Jesus Christ, God is with us. And, we sense joyful peace in us. If God is with us, who can be against us? What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing! Have you internalized it? If the Lord is present in our heart, his Holy Spirit inspires praise and gratitude in us.

1.  Praise

¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

Instinctively, our human nature craves for praise, why? We are not always prepared to accept negative critics or constructive comments. It is not verbalized but we want affirmation. Flattery affirms a longing of heart. It is human tendency to be attentive to anything that may validate what we yearned and wanted to do.

Naturally when we are flattered, we don’t reflect much on our decision. We don’t seriously deliberate on possible outcome of our behavior. When flattered, we are vulnerable. Swindlers take advantage of the vulnerable. Flattery is deceitful.

It declares in Psalm 36:1-3 ¹There is no fear of God before their eyes. ²In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. ³The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.

 “All Lies and Jests”

         Human praise is flattery; it’s a trap that can victimize anyone who falls into it. An agent invited an amateur singer to go abroad for better career opportunity. His faithful friends warned him about illegal recruitment, but he ignored them. The sweet flattering praise of the recruiter affirms his longing for advancement of his singing career. Tragically, the recruiting agent disappeared and nowhere to be found after he received the required placement fee from the amateur singer. It happened practically just as Simon and Garfunkel had sung, “All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Hmn-hmn!”

This fictional story hides a tragic situation that happens in real life. Many lives are turned sour because they naively trusted sweet-talking strangers. Many dying people regret that they disregard the advice of their loving parents, and it is a reality in any generation. Let’s reflect on Philippians 4:6-7, ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  

If we are impressed by anything that goes beyond our understanding, if we are anxiously concerned of something beyond human capability to comprehend, we should seek peace and wisdom from God. Peace from God is fruit of his Holy Spirit. And remember, Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God.

Therefore, we ask that his lordship prevails in us, and we gladly obey him.

         Be prayerful. Watch out of anyone who might flatter you with their praises. Praise can flatter. It can deceive the vulnerable to ignore a scheme or evil plot.

2.  Plot

²⁰ Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

Christians are vulnerable to lie. Unwittingly, they dismissed lying as clever behavior; they prefer to lie as better alternative; they don’t perceive negative effect of lie. It fascinates liars to mislead others. Whatever the consequences are, can we have confidence to tell the truth? It’s possible if we rely upon the Lord. We should always seek the Lord’s help to know how to respond or remain silent. A silent person who does not want to speak cannot be charged of lying. Agree?

Let’s reflect on what David said in Psalm 39:1-2, ¹I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked. ²So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good.

         It is considered smart to remain silent if we cannot say the right statement. It is foolishness to assume that others cannot differentiate deceit from the truth.

“The Forks”

A fictional story was told about a monkey and a deer going to Winnipeg. The deer asked, “Hey monkey! Are you a Winnipegger?” “Of course, I am,” the monkey lied. “So, do you know Winnie the Pooh?” the deer asked. “Why? Yes, I know him. It’s the popular Winnipeg bear!” the monkey tried to impress the deer.

The deer then inquired, “And, you know The Forks!” The monkey thought that “The Forks” is another bear; he didn’t know that “The Forks” is the famous tourist destination in Winnipeg at the junction of Assiniboine River and Red River. And to support his previous lie the monkey answered, “The Forks? Oh, yeah! Winnie the Pooh and the Forks are actually my dear friends.” Because of such falsehood and lying, the deer kicked the monkey and gored him furiously.

Aesop teaches, “He who begins to tell falsehoods is obliged to tell others to make them appear true, and, sooner or later, they will get him into trouble.”

         Such temptation to give false representation is amplified by advancement of technology. Magical moments caught on videos circulating in the internet can confuse people to readily believed or ignore. It is possible that videos were taken somewhere and edited make it appear that they’re vacationing next to the ocean.

         It is impressively alarming that professing Christians are also victimized by deceitful schemes in the internet. Do they assume deceits and lies are worthy to live by? It says in 2 Timothy 2:22-24, ²²Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

         The Lord knows who belong to him. Our behavior, mindset and lifestyle should manifest that we belong to the Lord. Our concerns should define our priorities. If our priority is to follow the prescription of God for his children, the Lord graciously let his peace prevail in us so that we do not worry about concern common to mankind. Why? We trust that God provides for our needs. Amen!

         In our participation to ministries that the Lord prepared in advance for us to do, we promote peace and avoid flattery and lies. May God bless us even more!

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