"Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife."
The God-hating professor taunted the philosophy class, No one in here can prove even one statement of the Bible to be absolutely true! A sober young man spoke from the back of the room, I can. The professor retorted, Well, here's your opportunity! The young man approached the teacher, took the teacher's nose in his hand, and twisted it hard. The blood ran freely, and the young man quoted this proverb! Give God the glory!
The blessed Creator put laws in His creation and revealed them to men. If the cream from milk is agitated in a churn, it will separate into butter and butter milk. The process has been known from the beginning of the world, and it is as sure and certain as gravity. Poor conditions may make it take longer, but butter will definitely result from churning milk.
The blood vessels in the nose are weak and near the surface. If the nose is hit or twisted hard, these vessels will break and blood will flow from the nose. Nosebleeds are very common, and a simple wringing of the nose is enough to cause this bleeding. As sure and certain as gravity, a twisting of the nose will rupture blood vessels and bring forth blood.
With the same certainty, acting in wrath to force or defend your cause will create strife. Wrath is anger, and strife is fighting and division. How you deal with anger is whether or not you cause conflict and trouble. A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife (15:18). Angry strife is devilish and from hell; it leads to confusion and every evil work; wise men are peacemakers instead (James 3:13-18)!
Everyone gets angry (Mark 3:5), but wise men defer anger and pass over the offences of others (19:11). Wise men do not let anger cause them to sin, and they get rid of it as soon as possible (Eph 4:26). Wise men are slow to wrath (14:17,29; Jas 1:29). They rule their spirits and do not allow the passion of anger to control them (16:32). They are great men!
Angry men are dangerous fools. They always have strife. Avoid them! If you associate with angry men, you will learn their sinful ways and get involved in fighting and trouble (22:24; 29:22). It is better to choose friends from faithful and perfect men (Ps 101:6).
Anger is the mark of a fool (Eccl 7:9). Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous (27:4). They both lead to strife. Choose to be offended, or even defrauded, rather than get angry (I Cor 6:7). You need not defend yourself; the Lord will defend you (Rom 12:19-21).
Actually, not everyone gets angry. No matter how hard you try, you could never make my spiritual guide angry.
To find out why, we need to know the sources of anger. Anger only ever arises when things to not go our way. This is true always. If our partner is doing or saying something that we don't want her to say, we get angry. If we see a close friend being harmed, we do not want to see this happening, so we get angry. When someone is in our face constantly, we get angry because we don't want them in our face.
Anger comes from our own selfishness, not getting what we want. We may say that we put other people's happiness before our own, but we can only truely say that if they never make us angry, and we are constantly rejoicing in their happiness. The moment we are angry at them, our happiness is now more important. In fact, when we are angry, it is only our happiness that is important, we want our own way.
To add, anger is a delusion. It distorts reality, by changing an object's appearance. The classic example I use a lot is when we are angry at our partner, how she loses the qualities of being loving, caring and beautiful because of our anger. If we contemplated these qualities all the time, she would never make us angry, because we would always see her as loving, caring, and beautiful, and never annoying, frustrating, ugly and so on.
Another example is misfortune. When we experience even the littlest of misfortune, such as dropping a glass jar of jam, we get angry because we do not want jam on the floor, but on our toast. Either way, it has still arisen from the same idea: we are not getting what we want.
It is this very selfishness that not only makes us angry, but jealous, and even sad. They are habitual. We become angry because we have done it all our lives, and only when things do not go our way. When things go our way as a result of anger, we think we have the anger to thank, so we see anger as a way to get what we want, to fulfil our selfish wishes.
There exists no situation where getting angry is helpful, because there is never a time we need to see a distorted reality. Of course, we should still do something about the situation that we think is wrong, but we need not get angry, it will only worsen things by making us harmful. The wishes to harm only come out of anger.
Buddha Shakyamuni taught that if we truely want to liberate ourselves from our mental suffering, we must abandon our selfishness. We should rejoice purely in the happiness of others, and give unconditionally the love we had for ourselves to everyone else. If we exchange ourself with another person, and make their happiness more important than our own, we could never get angry, or jealous. Instead we would be trying constantly to make everyone happy. It just so happens that if we do abandon our self-cherishing mind, and cherish others, happiness arises naturally in our mind. The only reason we cannot rejoice in the happiness of those that we see happy is because we wish the same upon ourselves.
Buddha, and my Spiritual Guide, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, have both abandoned their self-cherishing mind. It is common to both Hinayana and Mahayana paths of Buddhism. Losing our self-cherishing mind and cherishing only others is the only way to lose our mental suffering.
And now an atheist's view:
People don't think rationally even when calm, in the sense of only making logical deductions, but we can nevertheless see calmness as a kind of 'neutral' state. Emotions then seem to act as a distortion of our thoughts, like a distorting lens - they don't generate thoughts in themselves, but they do affect how prominent those thoughts become. For example, anger makes many inhibitory processes in the brain less effective, so while a slightly annoyed person might swear at someone in their imagination, a more angry person will actually do it.
The distortions caused by strong emotion usually fade after a short time - in fact, they tend to go away when the emotional person realises how distorted their thoughts are - but if allowed to they can cause lasting distortions, eg A goes from temporary anger about B to hating B, causing A to make an unfavourable interpretation of everything B does. I should add that this applies to love as well as hatred. However, for reasons which are obvious from an evolutionary stand-point, joy does not lead to a permanent euphoria, even though intense sadness can lead to depression.
So about the best we can aim for in the long term is to spend most of our time in calm contentment, with occasional bursts of emotion for variety. Emotions are thoughts too, and while it is important to be vigilant against for example anger (to avoid doing something nasty while you're angry), the much harder and more important work is constantly examining your own thoughts and attitudes to try to clean up all the left-over distortions, as well as the distortions that arise without emotional causes. Bigotry, fanaticism and cynicism are all possible results of a failure to do this, and things which a previously sensible person can all too easily fall into.
Originally posted by DreamlaXAnger that is not caused by oneself could be called "Power" the power someone else has OVER you to make you angry in the first place. eg, the loveable couple who occasionally argue ...the stressed wife who loses it while the husband sits there and takes it indifferently, knowing fine well he may be in the right but also realizing that its a waist of time and no gain at all to react.
Actually, not everyone gets angry. No matter how hard you try, you could never make my spiritual guide angry.
To find out why, we need to know the sources of anger. Anger only ever arises when things to not go our way. This is true always. If our partner is doing or saying something that [b]we don't want her to say, we get angry. If we see a close f ...[text shortened]... ur self-cherishing mind and cherishing only others is the only way to lose our mental suffering.[/b]
It could be caused by someone who tries to bait you into a fight, be it degrading you in front of a crowd, expecting you to bite. They showing the POWER they have by controlling your emotions.
If one can control one's own DESIRE, but for the universal GOOD,then people won't have any POWER over you.
Originally posted by DreamlaXDreamlaX: "Losing our self-cherishing mind and cherishing only others is the only way to lose our mental suffering."
Actually, not everyone gets angry. No matter how hard you try, you could never make my spiritual guide angry.
To find out why, we need to know the sources of anger. Anger only ever arises when things to not go our way. This is true alwa ...[text shortened]... erishing only others is the only way to lose our mental suffering.
As you may well know this is also one of the pillars of the teachings of Jesus Christ. The sad thing is that we do not accept this truth anymore, or pay lip-service to it, and live in the delusion that reducing mental suffering can be reached through, indeed, cultivating our self-cherishing mind. We unfortunately take this attitude to a higher level by deluding ourselves into the notion that we can reduce our mental suffering through means of destructing other human beings, and I am referring to abortion and infanticide here, who, as we perceive the situation, are in the way of our happiness. That is our Right, we claim.
Isn't it tragic to see that we are choosing attitudes and methods of which we believe, yes believe, they will make us happy, but instead of making us happy they will make us more miserable ...
.... and this result will stir up our anger even more.
Originally posted by ivanhoeOf course, sorry. I didn't intend to imply that it is our selfishness that makes us sad all the time. When I meditate for example on the suffering of others, it makes me sad, but it is obviously not selfish.
Dreamlax: "It is this very selfishness that not only makes us angry, but jealous, and even sad."
Dreamlax,
Can you explain or elaborate on how our selfishness is connected with being sad ?
IvanH.
What I mean is, the results of our selfish actions sometimes leave us sad when our wishes are not fulfilled (if not angry or jealous etc etc). When we see an ex-partner perhaps having fun with someone else, why might not get jealous, but we may get sad (or we may get angry! Or none at all...).
If we truely love someone, we would wish them happiness all the time and never expect it back. Expecting it back is selfish, and selfless unconditional love is the ultimate. Whenever a thought like "well, what do I/[b] get out of it?" or "What's in it for [b]me?" arises in your mind, it is a sign of selfishness. As long as we have this selfishness present in our mind, we will continue to get angry, jealous, sad and so forth. Hehe, but how many people would get into a relationship where they get nothing/little out of it? Not many!
"Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth."
If ignorance is bliss, it is only so in matters of liberty (I Cor 10:25-27) and sin (Rom 16:19). And if haste is a virtue, it is only so in matters of obedience to God (Ps 119:60).
For both ignorance and haste are condemned by our proverb, which mark them as traits of the fool. Before decisions are made and actions started, the Preacher requires careful study. Haste does make waste! If others tease you for being cautious and wanting to know more, ignore the lunatics!
Fools have no heart for learning (17:16), and they are impulsive by nature. They rush decisions and actions without knowing the facts, and they are justly punished. Wise men do not believe everything (14:15); and they do not rush into anything (14:29; 18:13; 25:8). They look ahead and see what could happen (22:3; 27:12). But fools rush to pain!
The New Testament also teaches knowledge and caution. Paul condemns ignorance, as he requires the proving of all things (I Thess 5:21; Acts 17:11). Wise men examine matters in all directions - they are circumspect (Eph 5:15-17). And he warned about haste as the sin heady of the perilous times of the last days (II Tim 3:4).
Our generation commends marriages on emotion alone; but our proverb demands that there be knowledge as well. How many divorces and dysfunctional marriages could have been avoided by learning more about the other party? And when haste is added to mere emotion, folly and its deserved pain will follow. Fifty years in marital hell is a long time!
Parents, especially fathers, should rule dating and courting. And they should be actively involved in the proving process. A young, single person does not have a clue about marriage, and he or she needs the combined wisdom and experience of their parents to save them from great pain. To rush into such an abyss impatiently is the height of folly.
Others make investment and business decisions by foolish optimism rather than prudent caution and wise counsel. And they are punished for them. Hard work in a boring job always works better than hastily following vain ideas (12:11; 21:5; 28:19,22).
Many join churches without examining them by Scripture out of laziness or to please friends or family. Pastors preach things they have not thoroughly studied. But when the Lord sees such ignorant haste in His worship, He blinds to the truth and sends delusions and lies (II Thess 2:9-12). Ignorant haste in religion is a horrible, compound sin!
Proverbs 26:25
"When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart."
Hateful people cannot be trusted. Kind words from their mouths are meant to deceive, and only fools will believe them. They will slice you badly, when it is helpful to their cause. Their hearts are full of abominable thoughts, even while they piously use gentle words and pretend to be friendly and virtuous.
We have a context for this proverb, an immediate one and a larger one. The immediate context describes hateful persons (26:24). These wicked murderers use words to pretend to be something they are not. They plan and plot how to conceal their wicked malice, even while they are lying to you about their intentions. They will not get away with it for long, for they will be exposed before all good men (26:26).
The larger context is a collection of proverbs dealing with hateful talebearers and other deceivers (26:17-28). In twelve verses, the Preacher lists the various ways in which hatred, lying, talebearing, and contentions lead to strife, trouble, and judgment. The world would be a better place if all such persons were thrown on the dunghill (26:23), but God will surely judge them in ways similar to what they planned for others (26:27).
Good words and fair speeches may deceive the simple and the sentimental, but all good men reject words; they measure always and only by actions. Even a child's character is known by his actions, whether he is pure and right (20:11). You can know a murderer by his fruits, not by his words (Matt 5:21-22; 7:16; Jas 3:12).
Seven is the perfect number in Scripture and means a complete amount. A hateful person has a full array of abominations in his or her heart, no matter what they say in public. And you will give them extra advantage to harm you, if you believe their lying words.
Cain was such a person. He talked to Abel; but a knife was in his hand, and hatred in his heart (Gen 4:8). Joseph's brethren comforted their father, though they were the very cause of his grief (Gen 37:35). Saul offered David his daughter, only for the purpose of killing him (I Sam 18:17). Absalom waited two whole years and begged for his brothers to come to a party, so that he might kill Amnon (II Sam 13:22-29). Judas promised undying loyalty to our Lord, but betrayed him with a kiss that very night (Matt 26:35).
Our lessons? First, be vigilant around a hateful person. Reject his words, for he is a liar. His heart is full of malicious abominations. Second, be faithful in all your relations, even in your heart, lest you even appear like this despicable and damned creature.
Originally posted by ivanhoeDon't hold this against me.
Proverbs 26:25
"When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart."
Hateful people cannot be trusted. Kind words from their mouths are meant to deceive, and only fools will believe them. They ...[text shortened]... est you even appear like this despicable and damned creature.
Working from memories of thirty years.
"But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile... thou shalt take him from mine alter that he may die.
And he that mstreats his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him... or if he be bound in his hand... he shall be put to a sure death."
If I cared, I would go look it up. I don't. I got the meaning when I read it.
<edit> I realize that I do care. Sorry. Took a while to find in my athiests beaten down frayed old bible... It is from Exodus 21: 14 to 17
I researched my sons name before he was born. I chose "Joshua" then knowing that freedom doesn't come without a fight. For what it's worth.
Proverbs 27:14
"He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him."
When is a blessing a curse? When it is flattery! Pay no attention to excessive blessings, compliments, or praise! They are actually a curse, for there is a false or foolish motive behind them (26:24-28; 29:5). The person has already deceived you, or he is about to deceive you. Godly men are not moved by flattery, nor do they give flattery to others.
The man here praises his friend with a loud voice. What does this sound level tell us about the blessing? It indicates an insincere display rather than a holy and noble compliment. He intends for the friend and others to hear the blessing. The loud praise is excessive, because it is flattery. He is using a blessing for other than friendly edification.
The flattery here is between friends. If an enemy used a loud voice early in the morning to praise you, it would be easy to know it was false and dangerous (Ps 5:8-10). But when it is between friends, it is much harder to see its danger (29:5). Wise men, who value sober warnings, will steel themselves against excessive compliments, even from friends.
Talk is cheap. Wise men ignore most bad things said about them (Eccl 7:21-22), and they ignore all good things said about them (27:14,21)! One act of true kindness is more meaningful than many exuberant blessings. Correction and rebuke are far more valuable for prosperity and success than any compliment.
All praise is not sin. Praise to get a person to believe or do something wrong is sin. Praise severely tests a man's character (27:21). Most men are vulnerable to flattery, from men or women; they believe the praise is true, and they will compromise to get more of it (29:5). But a wise man will prefer the rebuke of a sincere friend above the kiss of an enemy (27:5-6). Jesus, the greatest example for every believer, did what He could to hinder praise and popularity (Mark 7:36).
Take heed that you forget compliments!
Originally posted by StarValleyWyI am surprised that nobody has seen this and commented.
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him...
The entire slavery issue of humanity was based on the bible.
Here ... in the beginning of time is evidence that people pervert it to their own ends.
When I read :
"And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him... or if he be bound in his hand... he shall be put to a sure death."
I was floored. This is the beginning of all things. The second book of the bible.
How did the (chrisitan/judeo) world become so perverted that It did slavery for four thousand years IN SPITE OF THIS entry in the old bible?
It caused me a great mental task thirty years ago. I am hoping to stimulate same in you... the YOUNG readers.
Study why slavery happened. Get to know it. See it. Hate it. But don't fear it. It is still around in a few lesser forms. If we are to defeat it we must know WHY and HOW.
Question: How on earth did the Christian Southern US adopt slavery as "Gods" law? Given the obvious statement above about same?
I ain't going to tell. If you don't learn it from effort... you will gain nothing.
Proverbs 14:15 About gullibility:
"The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going."
Skepticism is a virtue. Caution is a sign of nobility. Demanding proof is wisdom. Only the dumb and foolish believe all they hear. A wise and successful man will examine a matter carefully, before he makes a decision about it. He understands the risks and rewards before he chooses a course of action. He does nothing by chance or in hope.
Our proverb is for safety and success. It is one of the best. Memorize it. It will save you often (22:3). We live in bad times. Men trust sound bites rather than sound reasoning. The information explosion bombards us with new data every day. Telemarketers, mail order catalogs, advertisements, infomercials, pop-up ads, and the Internet throw opinions, suggestions, and products at us. God inspired Solomon to save you by this pithy saying.
The simple are gullible. They are not bright. They do not have conviction or ability to question and criticize new information. If it sounds good, and something they want to be true, they believe it. If others are enthusiastic about it, they get excited. If it is in print, they believe it true. If a perceived authority says it, they trust it completely, even without evidence. If strangers say it worked for them that is good enough evidence to buy it.
The prudent are wise. They have discretion. They are not gullible. They are skeptical of anything sounding too good, too easy, too neat. Too good to be true is their motto. They are not impressed by things in print, words by authority, or testimonials from strangers. They want evidence, and it must be valid. If the simple are excited, they conclude it must be wrong. The majority opinion, in our ignorant and perverse society, scares them away.
Learn to reject anything without proof, and learn the rudiments of evaluating proof. The public education system neglects logic and rhetoric, for they want us gullible and trusting the "authorities," which are the educators, the media, and the entertainers. None of which, in this Bible-rejecting day, have a clue about truth and error. See the comments on 13:16.
Men are vulnerable to fraud in different areas. The old crave a cure for aging and disease, so they buy magazines filled with health speculations and quickly order their goat's milk cottage cheese with shark oil! Young men want to look like Hercules, so they ingest gargantuan amounts of the latest weight-gain powder from the same store that granny visited! Of course, in twenty years they will try a new powder to take that weight off!
Some men fall for financial fraud, because they want to make millions, easily! Others obsess about conspiracies and avoid the electronic cashier at the grocery store, for fear of receiving the mark of the beast! Safety freaks stop flying, because their flight, out of 40,000 each day, might have a passenger with a shoe bomb! And doting mothers play subliminal ocean sounds to their sleeping children to help them learn to swim!
Parent, teach your children to be skeptics. It can be enjoyable. Show them the false advertisement you get about the free family cruise to Tahiti. Show them the fine print requiring you to get to Mexico City for departure and the contract to rent expensive condos on four continents over the next four years. Teach them to look for the fine print, and teach them to look around in a full circle, which is circumspection (Eph 5:15).
Teach your children one of life's greatest lessons - there is no free lunch. Teach them another - no stranger loves them. For the salesman and infomercial have one goal, to take money from their pocket for themselves. Teach them the Bible is the only book to believe absolutely. Teach them the Lord is the only Person they can totally trust.
Watch the Evening News together, and point out the blather of the anchor, no matter who it is. Watch Benny Hinn. Tell them he has never healed anyone, takes in over $100 million per year, and refuses to open his organization to audits or interviews. Read "The Emperor's New Clothes" to them, and explain how often they will need to say, "But the emperor doesn't have any clothes on!" in our twisted world of peer-pressured perversity.
We live in the perilous times of the last days (II Tim 3:1). Information is the rage. Schools and degrees, books and other media, multiply ridiculously. We are gorged on information, but there is no truth! Paul warned, "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (II Tim 3:7). And it will not get better, for he said, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim 3:13).
Husband, protect your wife. Satan stole Eve's mind in about ten seconds in Eden, and Paul warned religious creeps would seek to capture silly - weak and vulnerable - women (II Tim 3:6). Protect your weaker vessel (I Cor 14:34-35; I Pet 3:7). What is the cure? Confidence and knowledge in the Word of God (Ps 119:128; II Tim 3:14 - 4:4)!
Here is the wisdom of God. In life, there is truth and error. The wise man will prove all things, reject the error, and tightly hold the truth. Paul taught this rule plainly when he wrote, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Thess 5:21). The Bereans were noble for searching the Scriptures to prove even Paul (Acts 17:11). They were not simple. They did not believe easily; they proved him out. Believe not every spirit (I John 4:1-6)!
God is absolute truth, and His Word is absolute truth (Deut 32:4; John 17:17). Satan is a liar and the father of lies; he has no truth in him (John 8:44). And all men follow one or the other. There is no neutral ground (Gal 1:8-9; Eph 2:1-3; I Tim 6:3-5). By our first birth, we love lies (John 8:45). But as the children of God, we can follow the truth, if we will prove it and pursue it (John 8:47; I Cor 2:15; Jude 1:3). Let God be true (Rom 3:4)!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is Faithful and True (Rev 19:11). You can trust Him completely, for your future today and in eternity.