The Word of God says that you can know a foolish man by his words. Once, a man said, “If I had some extra money, I’d give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family.” And the same man said, “If I had some extra time, I’d give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you—every single minute.” And the same man said, “If I had a talent I’d give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I’ve never been able to lead a group; I can’t think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to.” And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a glorious talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited, And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent. After a while, the man sighed and said, “If I only had some of that money back, I’d give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I’d give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I’d give it to God.” And God said, “Oh, shut up.” And the man told some of his friends, “You know, I’m not so sure that I believe in God anymore.”¹ There are lessons to learn all around us ripe for the picking. In this weeks blog, we are going to take a look at some instruction that we can gain from looking at the ways of fools.

Becoming The Good Man God Wants You To Be

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Characteristics of a Foolish Man

• There are many traits of a foolish man unapologetically listed in the Bible.
• These traits have nothing in common with one’s education or social status.
• Some of the most university educated men are foolish in God’s eyes.
• Others of great wealth are also devoid of spiritual sense.
• Here is what the Bible says about a foolish man.

The Most Famous ‘Foolish Man’ Verse

Psalm 14:1 (CSB) — 1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

• How many people have come to wrong conclusions about God based on some past negative experience?
• You hear it all the time: ‘God where were you when…’
• Or God, how come so and so died?
• And yet again, ‘God why did you let this happen.’
• Even still, ‘God I prayed, and you didn’t…’
• Sadly, people, due to a lack of understanding, conclude from these experiences that there is no God.
• When they do, they pin a badge unto the lapels of their garments that says ‘Hello my Name is Foolish Man.’
• It’s just like the man in the opening illustration above.
• But there are more traits of a foolish man.
• There’s one in particular that you might be wise to clue into.

How a Fool Uses His Words

• There are several ‘wisdom’ scripture passages of which consider the following.

Ecclesiastes 10:14 (KJV) — 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

Proverbs 15:2 (ESV) — 2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 (ESV) — 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

Proverbs 12:23 (ESV) — 23 A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

Proverbs 15:28 (ESV) — 28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

Proverbs 18:2 (ESV) — 2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

Ecclesiastes 10:12–14 (ESV) — 12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. 14 A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him?

• From all these passages, you can readily see that one outstanding trait of a foolish man is that he always has his mouth in motion.

Wisdom and Tongue Control

• A foolish man has no control over his tongue.

Proverbs 29:11 (KJV) — 11 A fool uttereth all his mind: But a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

• One way to wisdom is to learn to keep your mouth shut plain and simple.
• Even when a fool practices tongue control, it’s counted to him, at that faint moment of discretion, as wisdom.

Proverbs 29:11 (KJV) — 11 A fool uttereth all his mind: But a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

• So, a straightforward path to spiritual growth is to learn the discipline of silence.
• Guard your words or as the famous prayer that’s been uttered time and again.

Lord help me keep my eyes open, my big mouth shut and my nose out of other people’s business. Amen

Did You Know that A Good God Has A Good Plan For Your Life?

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