Walking with the Wise #494: Smooth as Sin

“Smooth words may hide a wicked heart,


just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.”
—Proverbs 26:23 (NLT)

Don’t believe everything people tell you, especially if you don’t know them very well. I know of a man who is a very smooth talker—and a very excellent salesman. Being able to read and talk to people is a real gift, but for him, it could, and has been, a curse. He knows that he can talk people into things that they otherwise would never ever do, and that has landed him into some trouble in his past. Because he knows how to use words, he can verbally manipulate them.

Speaking with him over coffee when he started to compliment me, I was flattered, of course, but quickly realized that he might be flattering me in order to get me to do something he wanted! I asked him if that’s what he was doing—he smiled, turned a little red and gave out a nervous laugh. He knew that I was on to him, and from that point on was much more careful in how he spoke to me.

Realizing that he was not alone in his ability, I have tried to listen very carefully and discerningly whenever I meet people who know how to use words—especially flattery. Just like a pretty glaze tries to make a clay pot a lot nicer than it really is, they try and hide the evil in their heart with sweet flowing, smooth, and sinful complimentary words.

Following Jesus means being aware of the sinfulness of man and arming ourselves against it. At his core, man is sinful, and being aware of that, even in the nicest of people, helps us avoid making some very careless and costly mistakes.

May we be discerning in what we hear, careful of the smooth words that are meant to flatter us, knowing that such words may be covering a wicked heart that is attempting to get us to sin. May we instead hear only what is true, listening carefully and with great discernment so that we might not be caught up in any evil, pained by any lies, or hurt by any schemes. Let us be children of light who discern and turn away from darkness so that Christ might be glorified in and through us. Amen.