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"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." (Ecclesiastes 10:1, New International Version)
A small foolish act can undermine the wise and honorable reputation we have worked so hard to develop.
One of the most powerful ways that foolish act undermines our reputation is the way that we can't let go of it. We keep bringing it up to ourselves. We keep feeling guilt and shame about it. We keep reminding ourselves how foolish we were. We imagine that our reputation can never be repaired.
We can't get rid of the stink.
I read a great question related to this in The Spiritual Formation Bible: "What do I have invested in this foible that prompts me to hold on to it?"
Wow! To phrase it differently: What right do I have to keep digging up that which God has already buried?
Question: What will you do today to resist digging up your stinking past?
Leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for sharing this. I've carried around a lot of this guilt-about-foolish-acts stuff myself. Most of the time everyone else has forgotten about it but I carry it around like some kind of martyr. The way I deal with my past foolish behavior is to remember I John 1:9 and Psalm 103:12, "...as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Gary Sherrill
ReplyDeleteCan't think of a better verse to hold onto. Bless you, my friend.
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