Proverbs 29:20

Proverbs 29:20 Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him. In our verse for today, King Solomon is talking about two things that are impossible. Oh, we may think that we can correct a man who is too quick to blurt out an answer. But Solomon says that there is no hope for him. Actually, there is less than no hope for him. That is pretty bad. Solomon goes on to say that even though there is no hope for a fool, there is actually more hope for a fool than for a man who is hasty in his words. And if there is no hope for a fool, there is less than no hope for a man who speaks too hastily. So what is the big problem about a man who answers a matter too soon? Well, he uses faulty logic. And if a man has faulty logic, there is less than no hope for him. Whatever you tell him or whatever he tells you, it never makes sense. My Granny Whitely used to say that she and her brothers and sisters used to play store and use leaves for their play money. One of them would come into their pretend store with leaf money and ask for some candy. One time the kid who was the storekeeper said, "Well we don't have any candy, but we do have umbrellas. Would you like an umbrella?" No matter how much you think about that, it doesn't make any sense. Just like a fool's words and even less than a man who is hasty in his words. No logic at all. So, what is our takeaway from this verse? Think before you speak. No matter how mad you are, stop and think about what you are about to say. Stop and slowly count to ten before you say anything. If you do that, you will not be guilty of speaking hasty words.