Day 36 – 90 Days in Proverbs - Flattery
Proverbs 6:23-28 [CSB] 23 For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life. 24 They will protect you from an evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman. 25 Don't lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes. 26 For a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man goes after a precious life. 27 Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet?
I’ve mention before that Solomon seems to have some specific themes that he hits on throughout his Proverbs. He frequently writes about the commands being a light to our path. The next verses go into at least one area of sin that we are protected from when we have the command and teaching and correction of Proverbs 6:23 – that is: adultery. Avoiding the temptress and eschewing adultery are also frequent themes.
But the act of adultery is only the final result of a whole lot of bad choices - choices that we are to avoid. These scriptures also advise us to avoid a couple of specifics steps along the path that leads adultery. This scripture tells us to be careful not to succumb to flattery that leads to lust.
In the example outlined in Proverbs 6:23-28, flattery by a person leads to lust for that person and results in adultery. I’ve seen it happen at work and even in volunteer service, that a couple of people will work so well together and spend so much time together on projects that the relationship becomes “the work wife” or “the work husband.” The dynamics at work are so different from the dynamics at home. A different set of skills and goals apply. Perhaps you feel more successful at work and are struggling at home. If not guarded against, that work relationship can edge into in appropriate ground.
But is this really the only way that flattery can lead to lust, which is already a sin, and then perhaps into a second sin of adultery? I don’t think so. I think there are other areas where flattery leads to lust.
It seems to me that most advertising begins with flattery that seeks to create the desire for something we may not need like a new car or the latest fashion. Advertisements use words like “you are worth it” or “you deserve better”. Sometimes ads advise you that “smart people choose/use this thing” or that parents who “really care about” the health or education of their children would buy this particular product. These ads seek to lure you with flattery.
We have to guard our minds against the subtle and not so subtle flattery inherent in a lot of advertising that leads to lusting after something we don’t need or maybe can’t afford. I have to be careful so that I am not charmed by the idea of how much better my life would be if only I had that thing that they are selling. I have to guard against being tricked into believing that thing they are selling is required for me to be a good mate or a good parent.
Flattery that leads to lust and the sin of adultery is something to be aware of and avoid. But flattery that leads to lust isn’t confined to someone trying to get you to commit adultery. In the world we live in today, flattery is a tool used to make us lust after all kinds of things we don’t need – from soda to a new car to a new pair of tennis shoes.
The lamp of God’s commandments, the light of His teachings and His corrective discipline are tools that help us to filter out that flattery and see it for what it really is. The lamp of God’s commandments, the light of His teachings and His corrective discipline keep us from lusting after anything we don’t really need – whether that is a person on a product.
Prayer — Father God, this world seeks to lure me into purchases I don’t need and behaviors that are sin. Let the brilliant light of your commandments and teachings keep me focused on what really matters and on the path to the Kingdom. When flattery seeks to pull me away, please correct my thoughts so that they never wander toward lust – long before that lust can take root or lead me to further sin. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Your thoughts —
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