"Buttered- Up"

"A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin".  Proverbs 26:28

This word won't apply to everyone this morning specifically, but it is something we all need to know and can learn from.  The specific word for someone who is reading this is---  you are being "buttered-up".  Someone is trying to get on your good side.  They are trying to get close to you.  They are trying to gain your trust and confidence, but they have an ulterior motive behind it.  They are not what they appear and things are not as they are trying to make them appear.  In short, they are manipulating you into believing a lie so you will come over to their side and do what they want you to do.    

Flattering lips, what we call "buttering-up" is a tool of manipulation.  Not every good thing that someone says to us and about us is a form of manipulation-- some are sincere.  It is what lies behind the words.  It is about what they want and can gain from it.  It is the motive of their heart behind what they are saying and doing that constitute the difference.     

The serpent in the garden said "flattering" words to Eve.  He told her what she wanted to hear.  He appealed to the desire of her heart.  But his motive was not to "help" Eve, or give her something that would make her "happy" and "fulfilled".  It was to advance his own agenda.  He wanted the place of God.  He wanted what God had given Adam and Eve.  It wasn't about "her".  It was about "him".  His own greedy, selfish and evil desire. 

So for all of us.  We must guard against being "butter-up".  We must guard against listening to flattering words.  We must ask Holy Spirit to help us be discerning so that we will know the difference between flattery and sincerity.  If we will, we won't believe the lies and fall for the deception and manipulation like Eve did.  In the end it didn't benefit her, it was her ruin.

Have a great day.  Beware when people start "buttering" you up.

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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