Read
Don't Be a Fool
1Expecting snow in summer
and rain in the dry season
makes more sense
than honoring a fool.
2A curse you don't deserve
will take wings and fly away
like a sparrow or a swallow.
3Horses and donkeys
must be beaten and bridled—
and so must fools.
4Don't make a fool of yourself
by answering a fool.
5But if you answer any fools,
show how foolish they are,
so they won't feel smart.
Reflect
As someone who’s grown up in the age of the anti-bullying campaign, these few verses can sound downright mean. But that’s not to say that there isn’t any truth to them.
Let’s start with the most innocuous verse of the passage: verse two. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been the recipients of a curse we felt was undeserved at some point in our lives. Whether someone has called you lazy, mean, proud, stupid, the list is practically endless. But what mattered most to you at the time of hearing it was the fact that you felt it wasn’t true. You weren’t being lazy, mean, or stupid at all. And yet the word still stung and made you want to defend yourself. I mean, heaven forbid someone else started thinking the same thing. For the sake of your dignity and reputation, you had to speak up and nip that thought in the bud. And yet this is where verse four comes in.
If you truly aren’t a lazy person, or a mean person, or a proud person, anyone who knows you at all will already know that. Only a fool would say otherwise. So there’s no need to stoop to that level. In trying to defend yourself, you may end up throwing horrible words back at them, and then who’s become the fool?
Of course, there will also be times when it is in the best interest of “the fool” to respond to their foolish arguments or statements in order that they may learn something and hopefully change their ways (v 5). Discerning those moments, though, is up to you. And you’ll likely find, in those situations, that a little help from on high will ensure the right words are said and feelings remain as unhurt as possible.
Respond
Wise Father, I ask for your wisdom and discernment in times when those around me are pressing my buttons and trying to get a reaction out of me. Help me to respond with wisdom, not folly. Help me, most of all, to reflect you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Larissa Benfey
Larissa is a Toronto based actor and writer who has dabbled in everything from scripts to short stories, and is now setting her sights on novels. Having studied English and history at Tyndale University and Seminary, she loves a good story, but her favorite stories always have happy endings - which is part of why she loves the true story of the Gospel so much.