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How would you describe respect? Three different types of respect come to mind for me.
Probably the most common one could be termed surface respect—it's shallow as the term implies. It's shown when the boss comes around or when trying to impress someone of importance.
Some respect is born out of sheer fear, dread, or fearfulness. It's an anxious fear that tends to cause people to flee or freeze up.
As a young believer, I had to learn how to trust God. It wasn't natural for me. It isn't natural for any of us. Just as toddlers exert their free will before they can say it clearly, we like to "do it by our self!" American culture only reinforces this innate self-willed resistance to trusting God.
We had a wing-backed, turquoise chair I called my "worry chair." It was vintage modern furniture from the sixties. My dearest grandmother gave it to us when my wife and I set up our new home and life together.
People have pursued wisdom since the beginning of time. Philosophers have filled the air and books with millions of words and thoughts with a variety of viewpoints. But philosophy is typically abstract, hypothetical, and theoretical, not practical wisdom.
The wisdom in Proverbs is far more practical than philosophy. It's grounded in truth from God and intended for daily life. This wisdom is to be taken into the deepest part of a person—their spirit and soul—to help them navigate relationships and live a life of integrity.
We take some things to heart in ways that aren't helpful. Criticism—especially when mean-spirited—can crush our heart and break our spirit. Whether accurate or not, criticisms tend to play like a never-ending tape in our mind.
Flattery taken to heart is a trap. It's self-deluding and sets us up to fall when we crash into reality. Like someone who can't carry a tune trying out on the American Idol stage because family or friends tell them they sing well.
Personification brings an abstract and conceptual thought more real and relatable. Wisdom is often personified as a woman in Proverbs as a means of illustration, which I mentioned in an earlier post and in my study guide for Proverbs.
Personification makes things more personal, like BB King's guitar named Lucille and Willie Nelson's guitar Trigger. Ships and cars are often referred to as if feminine and sometimes characters or caricatures serve to personalize an attitude like Dickens' Scrooge and Dr. Seuss' Grinch.
How can anyone resist the pull of peer pressure? It's easy to say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!" But resisting the influence of others is often not so easy.
At times, the forcefulness of other people intimidates us. Some people sound so convincing when they present an opportunity or plan as an adventure or a sure bet that we need to get in on.
