Several thousand years ago, Wisdom penned a contrast between men:
“Scorners set a city aflame,
But wise men turn away anger.
When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.
Men of bloodshed hate the blameless,
But the upright are concerned for his life” (Pro 29:8-10 NASB).
A wise man turns away anger, realizes the foolish will remain in his folly, and is concerned for the blameless.
Whereas scorners set communities at loggerheads with one another; fools refuse to listen to reason; and murderers seek to kill the blameless.
It is evident that through the millennia man’s practices have not changed as our society is ripe with both: the wise and the scorner, the wise and the foolish, the upright and murderer.
And though the unchanged masses can be branded, what can be changed is you and me. We can choose to turn away anger with a soft answer; not get embroiled in foolishness; and care for the innocent.
In this over-charged time of choice, let our first choice be that wisdom:
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5);
“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom (3:13);
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (v. 17).
Indeed, this choice is ours.
