This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to our study through Proverbs and daily drive time
devotions. We're looking at Proverbs chapter 29 today. And the verse we're going to
focus on is Proverbs 29 verse five.

That short verse says this, "To flatter people is to lay a trap for their feet.
" To flatter people is to lay a trap for their feet. Now, this verse makes me
think differently about flattery.

It tells me that flattery is one of the most selfish things that I can do. Now,
at first glance, a lot of people think it seems like flattering another person
is really a nice thing to do. Now, it might get some benefit for me, we think
also.

If I'm being flattering to somebody else, then they'll like me more. But we also
think of it as a nice thing to do. I mean, after all, I don't want to hurt their
feelings.

How could flattery be selfish? Well, it's selfish because it makes you look good
and makes you feel good at their expense. Instead of telling them the truth that
they need to hear, you spout out the lie that they want to hear.

And the harm comes when they believe the lie and they begin to act on that lie.
I see a lot of flattery with Christians when it comes to believing lies and
acting on lies. Either some friend that you have that's headed in a wrong
direction in life, and maybe others are even warning them about that, but you
flatter them and you say, "Oh no, you're doing great.

" And maybe it makes you feel a little bit better, but they keep heading in the
wrong direction. I've had an opportunity to see how destructive this process
really is many, many times. Whenever someone's about to make a mistake, whether
it be in business or in relationships, they'll usually ask other people's advice
before moving ahead.

Intuitively, we often know we're headed in the wrong direction. And so we ask
for help. And often, they will run into someone who will flatter them and say
something like, "Oh, go for it.

"If anyone can do it, you can. " Now, deep down, you're thinking, "Oh, disaster
of titanic proportions. "This is never going to work.

" But you flatter them. And you know what I found again and again? Although 20
people may have told this person not to move ahead, not to do that wrong thing,
they'll listen to the one person who flattered them.

Someone's going to ask you for advice about something this week. More than anything
else, they deserve to hear the truth spoken in kindness. Now, it may not make
you feel good, that truth, at the moment that you're telling them.

But it may just save them from the trap of a heartache or a failure. To flatter
people is to lay a trap for their feet. It hurts them.

You're benefiting at their expense. Let's ask God for strength with our words
this week. God, when it comes to words, well, James tells us that when it comes
to words, we've all failed, we've all struggled.

If anyone was perfect with their words, they would be perfect in every area.
None of us are perfect. So we struggle with this one.

We just admit it, we struggle with this. We need your help. And I pray that this
week, I pray that today, that our words would be inspired by you and not by our
selfishness.

They'd be directed by you and not by the way that we've just always spoken. Give
us a new way of speaking, a new truth in our speaking, a new kindness, a new
ability to be frank in a way that changes people's lives. God, we need you for
that.

So just check our words, direct our words, and help us to speak in ways that
instead of flattering people, in ways that honor the people we speak to, in ways
that build the people that we speak to today. God, would you do that in us by
your strength? Do in us what we can't do for ourselves.

Do through our words what we could never do through our words by your power. We
pray this, we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.