THINK TOGETHER.
Do you like being flattered, or would you rather hear the truth?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 26:28. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Solomon is warning us about flattery. He compares flattering to lying. But what is flattery? Flattery is when you say “nice” things to someone but with a bad motive. Often the nice things you say are not necessarily something you believe is true. In Solomon’s day the servants might flatter the king, telling him how great he was, but only so that they wouldn’t get in trouble. Or an enemy might flatter the king so that they will be liked and trusted while secretly working against the king.
When might we be tempted to use flattery? To get out of trouble? To impress someone? To get something that we want? To make friends or to be liked?
Of course it is great to say nice things to people, but flattery is all about having a selfish reason for saying those nice things. In this way flattery is a form of lying.
Solomon also says that flattery brings ruin. Destruction. Yikes. Why does he say that? Because if a king had servants and advisors that only flattered him and never told him the truth, never said anything bad, what would happen? That’s right. He would end up just getting worse and worse. The king needed someone who would tell him the truth. That’s what we all need – a friend who will tell us the truth.
So don’t be a flatterer and don’t surround yourself with flatterers. That’s wisdom.
Satan is a flatterer. He will make you think everything is fine when it’s not. Jesus will never flatter you. The Holy Spirit inside of you will never flatter you. Yes, he will encourage you, but he will never lie to you. He will let you know when you are doing something wrong. He’ll confront your heart with both truth and love. And that is how we can talk to others too. With truth and love, not flattery.
Because of Jesus we don’t need flattery because we aren’t afraid of the truth.
With Jesus we can always tell the truth in love.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Read Ephesians 4:15 together. Say flattering things to your children (lay it on thick). In what way is flattery neither truth or love. Act out examples of truth without love and love without truth. How can we say things in both truth and love?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, thank you for telling me the truth in love. Help me to encourage my friends but also tell them the truth when necessary. Amen.
TLICfamily 