Fools show their annoyance at once,
but the prudent overlook an insult.

Proverbs 12:16

Think about the last time you got annoyed and then embarrassed. It probably involved speaking before you fully understood what was happening. The book of Proverbs gives a useful warning about this.

What is the root cause of the embarrassment that comes from a quick temper? Pride. The annoyance that comes from a presumed embarrassment leads to an even bigger one when you overreact or mistake something innocent for a slight.

So humility is the remedy; for the pride that causes the quick temper, a salve to slow the snarl and shout and a poltice on the pride allows the insult to bruise in the first place.

In this case, prudence is not some kind of toughness that we can use to withstand an insult, beat it back, dish out a bigger one ourselves. Prudence is putting away the pride of self that can be hurt and replacing it with confidence in God’s strength.

Ethan Kirl