Insults – Proverbs 12:16

Neel Burton does a very creditable job of dealing with how to respond to insults.  His examples of responding with humor are quite humorous.  He tries to cover the bases by dealing with the consequences of six different possible responses.  But at the base of every possible response is the heart of the one insulted.  How does the prudent heart respond?

The vexation of a fool is known at once,

but the prudent ignores an insult. (Proverbs 12:16, ESV)

You’ve no doubt had the experience of walking on egg shells around someone, not the literal experience, I hope, though that might be quite a cavalcade of crunchy sounds and fun in that respect.  But the point of the metaphor is that you cannot say anything without breaking their delicate shell.  There are some people to whom you cannot say anything of critique without rousing a storm.

Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” It is the mark of a fool that he or she is unable to hear what will help them be less the fool.  They are protecting their soul from assault, having determined that to let anyone tamper with who they are will lead to an inward crumbling of what they have so diligently sought to keep together.  They are not dependent on God for their life but on their façade.

The wise person, on the other hand, can even take an insult without coming unglued.  With them it is like walking on concrete, or perhaps, for aesthetics’ sake, beautiful hardwood floors.  It is not that they wouldn’t be willing to correct someone’s slander of them, but their sense of self is not so fragile because it is buttressed with the Spirit of God.  They can actually love the one who insults because their own ego is not at risk.

Lord, make me so secure in You, in how You see me and therefore what the reality is as to who I am, that I can easily ignore insults that have no basis in fact.