Proverbs 25:27

The Bible says in Proverbs 25:27, “It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.” The first part of this verse is about doing things in moderation. A Christian should always be under control. We need freedom to be everything we can be for God. We do not want to be under the power of anyone or anything, and that includes ourselves. One of the negatives of a bad habit is that habit controls us and we lose power over our own lives because of being slaves to the habit. Excess is bad, and moderation and self-control is good. Since human beings can so easily be proud and vain and naturally seek attention, a person might seek his own glory. That would be bad. We are supposed to seek the glory of Christ because He is the Master and the Savior. Jesus said in John 7:18, “He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” It is not glory to seek our own glory: it is vain pride and selfishness.

The Bible says in Proverbs 25:28, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” We are emotional creatures. Beware of you own emotions. Once again, if you are not careful, your emotions will rule you, and you will be a slave to your emotions. The result will not be good. God also gave us a mind. Use your mind to reason things out. With your mind, you learn the Word of God and you learn the truth. Notice that a person who is said to have “no rule over his own spirit” is the same as a city “that is broken down, and without walls.” In other words there is no defense. You will be tempted at times to go the wrong way in life, and your emotions will take you there. If your emotions rule the day, then your God-given defense of reason has broken down.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:1, “As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.” People want to be honored. No one wants to be looked down on. Then do not become a fool. One of the benefits of coming to know Jesus as Savior and following Him is that He will give you wisdom. If you are consistent in your faith in Christ, over time people will honor you greatly. If you are a fool, you will have no honor.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:2, “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.” In the Old Testament a “curse” came when you broke the law. There were many reasons that a curse could fall on someone because the law was perfect and there were many commandments in the law. There is a list of ten curses in Deuteronomy 27:15-26 alone. But there are no curses in the New Testament for believers. That is because Jesus became a curse for us. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:3, “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.” This verse is saying that a fool is going to suffer. If you want to reduce the sufferings of life, then ask God for wisdom. If you are a fool, then you are going to suffer more than someone who is not a fool.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:4-5, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.[5] Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” When a fool speaks to you, there are two ways of responding to him: you can either not answer him or you can go ahead and answer him. It depends upon the situation which you should do. You will need wisdom to know when you should give an answer and when you should say nothing. The danger of engaging a fool in conversation is that you might start talking at his level and therefore “be like unto him.” On the other hand you might need to answer a fool in order to teach him and give him a chance to learn “lest he be wise in his own conceit.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:6, “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.” This verse has to do with hiring and staffing. You need wisdom to hire the right person for the right job. You definitely do not want “a fool” for any position. One of the benefits that a Christian adds to society is that a true Christian will make the best worker. A true Christian will be loyal, obedient, honest, and hard working.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:7, “The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” Someone who does not have wisdom cannot do anything right, especially when it comes to what they say. They cannot even say a parable correctly. The fool will have the wrong tone of voice or will make the wrong emphasis in some way. His timing will be off.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:8, “As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.” These verses in Proverbs that tell us over and over again how bad it will be for a fool. The purpose of such verses is to remind us of the importance of gaining wisdom. True wisdom comes from God. Anyone who gives honor to a fool is causing a lot of problems because they are elevating the wrong kind of person and setting the wrong example.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:9, “As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.” This proverb compares the actions of a drunkard to that of a fool. One of the negatives of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs is that such a person will easily injure himself or herself. The same is true of a fool. A fool is doing or saying things that causes themselves unnecessary harm.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:10, “The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.” This verse equates a fool to a sinner (a transgressor.) A fool will sin often. A person is a fool partly because they have not come to Christ. God gives wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The reason that so many bad things happen to fools is the same reason that many bad things happen to transgressors: God is in charge. God is holy and He does not like sin. God is wise and He does not like foolishness.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:11, “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” This verse gives one of the reasons that a fool is a fool. Even when you do wrog, by the grace of God at least it is an opportunity to learn from your mistakes: but not for a fool. He does not even learn from his mistakes. Because he is a fool, he makes the same mistake over and over. A fool is like a dog returning to his vomit. He never learns.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:12, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” We have had verse after verse about how horrible it is to be a fool. This verse tells us that there is something worse than being a fool, and that is being wise in your “own conceit.” God hates pride, and we do not have anything to be proud about. That is, in regards to the wrong kind of pride. It says in Galatians 6:3, “For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” We should be humble about ourselves because we are all sinners and we fail often.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:13, “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets.” Of course, the Bible is no supporter of laziness. It says in the New Testament in Second Thessalonians 3:10, “if any would not work, neither should he eat.” This verse in Proverbs 26:13 shows one way in which lazy people avoid working: they always have an excuse, and they will use any excuse they can think of. Of course, the world has some dangers. But the odds of there being a lion in your street are almost negligent. Life has to be lived. Work needs to be done. Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:14, “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.” It is God’s will that while we are on this earth that we should work. God told Adam and Eve when God banished them from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” The verse in Proverbs 26:14 is telling us one of the bad results of being lazy: you will not sleep well. The body and the mind are designed to make an effort during the day. Neither one will rest well at night, if they have not made that effort during the day.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:15, “The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.” It is almost unbelievable how lazy some people can be. Solomon says that some people are so lazy that they will not even lift their hand to their mouth to eat. Why are there so many homeless people? There are many reasons: alcohol, drugs, insanity, crime, a bad break in life; but another reason is laziness. Some people just will not lift a finger to take care of themselves.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:16, “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.” A lazy person always has many reasons that they cannot work. They talk themselves into doing nothing, and they justify themselves. They think that they are so smart, when in reality they do not understand themselves or life.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:17, “He that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.” Unfortunately, in this world people do not do a good job of getting along. People get into quarrels and disputes over a multitude of things. This verse is simply saying that if you are wise, you will not get involved in these petty strivings if they do not affect you directly. God has called us to peace.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:18-19, “As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am not I in sport?” The key word in this verse is “deceiveth.” Do not ever deceive anyone. Either tell the truth or say nothing. If you deceive someone and then try to make light of it later, you will cause much damage because you will ruin your reputation and you will ruin relationships.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:20, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” You can make things better, or you can make things worse. If you gossip, or if you tell others what someone has done or said, you will only be flaming the fires of strife and contention.

The Bible says in Proverbs 26:21, “As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.” The key word here is “contentious.” A contentious person is someone who causes trouble or who makes a situation worse. You are either a trouble-maker or a peace-maker. Jesus is the greatest peace-maker of all because Jesus can give peace with God. Give your heart to Jesus, and you will find true peace, and then you can help others find peace also.

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