If one keeps tracks of the general insults thrown in one's directions, one gets a consensus of what exactly bothers folks about you. So... let me do a mini-survery: Generally, the snide comments I get are: "You're a silly woman or "you are in need of mental help."
Well, that's good. No one calls me a bitch. Or a liar. Or a cheat. Or a gossip. Or incompetent. Or an adulteress.
So, what is "silliness" anyway? And why is "silliness" an insult and who is the kind of person to call another person "silly"?
Silliness is brainlessness, I think. It implies someone is lacking in good sense, is somewhat frothy, is a bit of an airhead, has flaky priorities, is saying or doing something that "everyone else knows" should not be said or done in public.
The person who calls another person "silly" is therefore someone who believers herself to be worldly wise and who believers herself to be aware of all the proper way of thinking and being. The person who calls another person "silly" is either not silly or is careful enough not to be transparent about her silliness. The person who calls another person "silly" also esteems herself above the supposed silly person. She doesn't consider anything else going on in the person's life and has reduced that person to being a symbol of childish stupidity or flakiness.
Before I go on to a few Biblical verses, I want to ponder transparency. Are we not all confused and wounded? Are we not all like sheep having no shepherd, even if we are ultra-educated? Are we not all equally wounded? Is life not a wounded thing? Even if the person deemed "in need of mental help" were to have the money and wherewithal to get the best of psychotherapists, would that person ever be really healed? And would that person not carry some scar which hints at previous woundedness? And should that person -- after their mental help has been achieved-- go about pretending to be sane and healthy in order to appear acceptable to those who judge them?
Jesus said, if anyone says to anyone, "You Fool!" they are in danger of hellfire. Now, let us ponder that. Why is such a comment worthy of hell?
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Matthew 5:22
Well, let us consider our personal God for a moment. That's the trouble with a Personal God; HE has a personality. And in this case, we have a God who chooses the foolish.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brothers, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1:27
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? James 2:5
The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have? Jeremiah 8:9
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, Isaiah 44:25
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2:12
Essentially, the citizens of earth have a God who prizes a certain kind of foolishness. Not all, mind you. But worldly wisdom is not something that impresses Him. There is apparently the world's way of thinking and being, and there is God's way of thinking and being. Sometimes they merge and work well together, but often they are at odds.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 2 Corinthians 5:16
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philipians 2:3
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. John 8:15
We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you 2 Corinthians 1:12
Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. James 3:15
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9
According to the Bible, human understanding can only help us so far.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
"My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. Jeremiah 50:6
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Jeremiah 10:23,24
Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:1,2
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4
Therefore, the one who calls another person "silly" or "foolish" has compounded sin upon sin. First, she believes herself capable of judging others. Secondly, that person is judging by the world's confused standards. Thirdly, that person is judging another by that person's "apparent" behavior and subtly demanding hypocrisy and the hiding of the true self. Fourthly, the judger is hiding her own self-deception in not admitting that all humans are confused, silly, and wounded.
Well, that's good. No one calls me a bitch. Or a liar. Or a cheat. Or a gossip. Or incompetent. Or an adulteress.
So, what is "silliness" anyway? And why is "silliness" an insult and who is the kind of person to call another person "silly"?
Silliness is brainlessness, I think. It implies someone is lacking in good sense, is somewhat frothy, is a bit of an airhead, has flaky priorities, is saying or doing something that "everyone else knows" should not be said or done in public.
The person who calls another person "silly" is therefore someone who believers herself to be worldly wise and who believers herself to be aware of all the proper way of thinking and being. The person who calls another person "silly" is either not silly or is careful enough not to be transparent about her silliness. The person who calls another person "silly" also esteems herself above the supposed silly person. She doesn't consider anything else going on in the person's life and has reduced that person to being a symbol of childish stupidity or flakiness.
Before I go on to a few Biblical verses, I want to ponder transparency. Are we not all confused and wounded? Are we not all like sheep having no shepherd, even if we are ultra-educated? Are we not all equally wounded? Is life not a wounded thing? Even if the person deemed "in need of mental help" were to have the money and wherewithal to get the best of psychotherapists, would that person ever be really healed? And would that person not carry some scar which hints at previous woundedness? And should that person -- after their mental help has been achieved-- go about pretending to be sane and healthy in order to appear acceptable to those who judge them?
Jesus said, if anyone says to anyone, "You Fool!" they are in danger of hellfire. Now, let us ponder that. Why is such a comment worthy of hell?
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Matthew 5:22
Well, let us consider our personal God for a moment. That's the trouble with a Personal God; HE has a personality. And in this case, we have a God who chooses the foolish.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brothers, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1:27
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? James 2:5
The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have? Jeremiah 8:9
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, Isaiah 44:25
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 1 Corinthians 2:12
Essentially, the citizens of earth have a God who prizes a certain kind of foolishness. Not all, mind you. But worldly wisdom is not something that impresses Him. There is apparently the world's way of thinking and being, and there is God's way of thinking and being. Sometimes they merge and work well together, but often they are at odds.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 2 Corinthians 5:16
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philipians 2:3
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. John 8:15
We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you 2 Corinthians 1:12
Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. James 3:15
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9
According to the Bible, human understanding can only help us so far.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
"My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. Jeremiah 50:6
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Jeremiah 10:23,24
Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:1,2
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4
Therefore, the one who calls another person "silly" or "foolish" has compounded sin upon sin. First, she believes herself capable of judging others. Secondly, that person is judging by the world's confused standards. Thirdly, that person is judging another by that person's "apparent" behavior and subtly demanding hypocrisy and the hiding of the true self. Fourthly, the judger is hiding her own self-deception in not admitting that all humans are confused, silly, and wounded.
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