Bible Verses About Marriage
God’s Purpose for Every Woman
Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse. — Proverbs 19:1
Eccentric people make us laugh. They do funny things. Sometimes they appear foolish in our eyes. Have you ever appeared foolish to someone? I have.
At the beginning of the New Year, I decided I would exercise more. I wanted to walk with my dogs, but they both have arthritis in their hind legs and can’t move about much. So I devised an ingenious solution with the help of an old baby stroller. I plopped my dogs in the dilapidated stroller and squinted into the bright morning sun. I decided to grab my sunglasses and off we went.
Two miles into my trek, I saw a woman with a puppy prancing beside her. She appeared startled as I approached. I grinned and said, “I know it’s ridiculous to be pushing these dogs in a baby stroller, but they can’t walk far.” She nodded curtly. Then she snatched her dog up in her arms and strode away without a word.
After my invigorating exercise, I came home pleased with my ingenuity. I lifted the dogs out of the stroller. I took off my sunglasses and placed them on the counter. To my surprise, one of the dark lenses had fallen out. I realized how foolish I must have looked. Strolling with two dogs in a baby stroller and staring out of sunglasses with a missing lens. No wonder the woman grabbed her dog and hightailed it away from me!
I laughed until my sides ached. Although I looked pretty foolish, it didn’t harm anything except perhaps my ego.
Unfortunately, some of our behaviors hurt others. A common theme throughout the Bible is the foolish use of our tongue. In the book of James, we are warned not to use our tongue to bless God and then curse people.
You can read about Balaam in the book of Numbers. King Balak of Moab wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites, but God commanded Balaam to bless them. As the story goes on, Balaam keeps trying to figure out a way to bypass the will of God. It seems he had a penchant for taking out his frustrations on everyone else. Eventually, Balaam’s donkey speaks up.
When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now” (Numbers 22:27-29).
Balaam’s foolish decisions made him a fool, not the donkey’s behavior. The donkey, although only a beast, held more wisdom than Balaam.
Unfortunately, more times than I care to admit, my tongue makes a fool of me. Words fly out, only to be heard later by the target of my gossip. Or at other times I’ve insisted my opinion on a subject was correct, and then later I was proved wrong. Yes, I have been a fool with folly falling from my lips.
I might have looked foolish strolling with my dogs while wearing sunglasses with only one lens. However, I pray that my tongue will speak wisdom and blessing to everyone I encounter. I certainly never want to give cause for my dogs to speak to me!
Dear Lord, help me control my foolish tongue. I ask the Holy Spirit to take control of my tongue. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Application Steps
Read James 3:1-12.
Copyright © Lysa TerKeurst and Rachel Olsen, published by Harvest House Publishers. Used with Permission.
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