Proverbs 6:12-13. 12A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
The NIV translates worthless person as “troublemaker.”
The troublemaker just creates chaos wherever they go. Constant conflict follows them. They love to stir things up. They love to start an argument.
Do all things without murmuring or disputing? Nope. The troublemaker would rather complain about everything.
Love covers over a multitude of sins? Nope. The troublemaker keeps bringing up past mistakes.
Forgive one another? Nope. The troublemaker holds every grudge.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit? Nope. The troublemaker wants their own way.
Don’t let any corrupt communication come out of your mouth? Nope. The troublemaker’s speech is as crooked as a corkscrew. Innuendo. Half-truths. Unfair characterizations. False accusations. All these and more flow freely from their mouths.
Are your relationships characterized by constant conflict? If so, then it may be because you are a troublemaker in some way. You are worthless to the relationship. Yikes.
Some characterized Jesus as worthless. The word worthless in verse twelve is the Hebrew word belial. Devil. Jesus was accused of being full of the Devil, wasn’t he? Of being worthless and crooked. A liar. A deceiver. But was he? Of course not. He spoke truth to power, but always with the best interest of the listener at heart. He spoke grace to the poor and broken, the words of eternal life.
In Christ, we have the Spirit of God in us, not the spirit of belial. By the grace of God, we can always put away corrupt communication and instead speak the truth in love. We can move from being a troublemaker to being a peacemaker. Not just because we should (yes, we should), but also because we can. We can cease from being a troublemaker because we know that when we have everything Christ has we need nothing else. We no longer have to be self-deceived into thinking that our crooked words are necessary for survival, instead we can speak grace to all hearers. Words of life, not worthless words of self-promotion.
Ephesians 4:29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
You: Are you a troublemaker? How are do you respond in relationships? Crooked speech? Winking eyes? Pointing fingers?
You in Christ: How does knowing that we have all we need in Christ keep us from feeling the need to be a self-promoting trouble maker?
Christ in you: Where and to whom can you speak grace today? Truth in love?
Prayer: Father, keep me from using crooked speech to get what I want. I don’t want to be a trouble maker; I want to be a peacemaker. Amen.
To Live is Christ 