Key Verse: Verse 5 - “That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.”
Key Words: which flattereth with her words
We are told in Proverbs 20:19 to “meddle not with him that flattereth.” In Proverbs 28:23 we read, “He that rebuketh a man afterward shall find more favour than he that flattereth with his tongue.” In Proverbs 29:5 we are told “a man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.”
In ancient Greece, the politically crafty philosopher Aristippus had learned to get along in court by flattering the tyrant Denys. Aristippus looked down his nose at some of his less prosperous fellow philosophers and wise men who would not stoop that low. One day he saw his old colleague Diogenes washing some vegetables, and he said to him disdainfully, “If you would only learn to flatter King Denys you would not have to be washing lentils.” Diogenes looked up slowly and in the same tone replied, “And you, if you had only learned to live on lentils, would not have to flatter King Denys.”
Someone has said, “Flattery is like perfume. The idea is to smell it, not swallow it.” Another suggested, “Flattery is like counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.” Most of us would rather be hurt by flattery than helped by criticism. It could be said, “Flattery is not communication; it is manipulation.”
Dr. Mike Rouse
What to do:
✞ All praise of men should glorify God. If God can’t receive the glory, then don’t say it.
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