Straight and Forward

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Proverbs 4:24

By now we’ve all socially distanced enough to where it almost seems unnatural to stand close to someone who is not part of our normal circle. This isn’t the best thing for humanity. God made people in his image and giving us a physical body is part of that good creation. We hug, shake hands, and stand side-by-side as expressions of bonds of love, faith, and unity. Separating physically for an extended period of time deteriorates these bonds.

There are people from whom we should spiritually distance. In our proverb today we see that we should create separation from and avoid those who have froward mouths and perverse lips.

In the “Dictionary of the Bible,” edited by James Hastings, froward is defined as “the opposite of ‘toward,’ as we say ‘to and fro’ for ‘to and from.” “Holman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary” defines perverse as “one Greek and several Hebrew terms with the literal meaning “bent,” “crooked,” or “twisted,” applied to persons involved in moral error.”

The froward person influences us away from Christ, while the perverse person influences us to be bent and twisted by sin and hindered in our walk with Christ and testimony for him. Avoid the influences of both.

-C.R.