Counterintuitive Blessing

Synopsis: We live in a culture where we are taught to stand up for our rights, defend ourselves, never let anyone intimidate us, if necessary (and it’s always necessary) destroy our opponent — and getting nasty to do it is now our weapon of choice. On “the street” you are tagged as weak if you let someone get away with any kind of personal offense without throwing a few nasty bombs back at your antagonist. But is it really weakness or is it wisdom to overlook an insult? King Solomon wrote that it’s to our honor to avoid strife. He also pointed out that only “a fool gives full vent to his anger, but wise people keep themselves under control.” If however, you tend toward anger and are quick to retaliate when you have been offended, you might as well hang a sign around your neck that reads, “I’m a fool.” But if you have developed the ability to control your emotions when irritated, Solomon would call you prudent, wise, honorable, and yes, even bless-able.

Moments With God // Proverbs 20:3 (NLT)

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling.

It’s everywhere—on talk radio, the street corner, the classroom, the ball field, in the home. People are throwing bombs, verbal bombs, that is. Rather than winning arguments through respectful persuasion, which is what wise, intelligent, mature people do, they are resorting to name-calling.

We live in a culture where we are taught to stand up for our rights, defend ourselves, never let anyone intimidate us, if necessary (and it’s always necessary) destroy your opponent — and getting nasty to do it is now our weapon of choice. On “the street,” you are tagged as weak if you let someone get away with any kind of personal offense without throwing a few nasty bombs back at your antagonist.

But is it really a weakness or is it wisdom to overlook an insult? King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived outside of Jesus Christ, wrote that it’s to our honor to avoid strife. He also pointed out that only “a fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” (Proverbs 29:11)

If you tend toward anger and are quick to retaliate when you have been offended, you might as well hang a sign around your neck that reads, “I’m a fool.” But if you have developed the ability to control your emotions when irritated, Solomon would call you prudent, wise, and honorable. He is describing a person who shows discretion, has tremendous foresight, exhibits great patience, and uses careful judgment. It is a person who takes control over their anger.

Proverbs 16:32 describes that person this way: “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” Proverbs 20:3 in the Message translation states, “It’s a mark of good character to avert quarrels, but fools love to pick fights.”

You will most likely have the opportunity for either foolishness or prudence this week, perhaps even today, because someone has insulted or irritated you. When that happens, just remember: you were not called to retaliation—nor to foolishness, but to blessing. That’s what the Apostle Peter, a man who preferred the sword to the cross until his transformative experience with baptism in the Holy Spirit, later wrote,

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. (1 Peter 3:9)

At this point, I think you get the point: Be honorable, be wise, be patient, be self-controlled, and be a source of blessing, even to the people who don’t deserve it. Why? Because God will bless you for it.