A False Front

Read Proverbs 26

People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you. They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils.

Proverbs 26:24-25

People with hateful hearts will do you no good. Though they may try to persuade you of their good intentions, Proverbs 26:24-25 says to remain wary of them. Sooner or later, their true motives and intentions will come out.

So how do Christians recognize people who are evil? Just as people can’t contain the joy in their hearts, so it is impossible to keep evil from overflowing. The last line of this proverb stresses that these people’s hearts are full of evil. That leaves no room for anything else.

Christians can determine the evil in a person’s heart by watching his or her actions. Words may disguise them for a time, but evil people will eventually act on the content of their hearts. This is a crucial proverb for our times, when a lot of interaction takes place between faceless persons talking over the Internet. People who can manipulate words have a distinct advantage. This kind of communication must be carried out with extreme caution, lest we find ourselves tricked by someone’s words whose actions reveal “many evils.”

A WORD FOR TODAY

Real motivation is eventually revealed.

Today, Lord, I will keep an eye open for evil that wants to harm me. Help me to be discerning.