My dear readers,

Your Counsel Reveals Your Heart

Proverbs 12:20: “Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellers of peace is joy.”

Generally, people are quite opinionated. Is this not the basis for unceasing judgment? With judgment comes constant counsel. People like to tell others what to do and how to improve their lives. They compare and criticize and leave a trail of ruined lives and hurts. The virtual and real world is a hotbed of criticism and character assassinations. Yet, many keep on exposing themselves to such verbal violence to their peace of mind – with the increase of new sign-ups and existing ones that refuse to take down theirs, perhaps thinking they can weather the storm, which is an exception rather than the rule.

Do Christians fare better than the world in terms of what they say?

The warning from Proverbs 12:20 is that a deceitful heart is revealed by those who “imagine evil.” The word “imagine” means to “devise” or to “engrave.” Their engraving tool is what they say or write. What they engrave will be a tapestry of evil. The canvas they engrave on is the mind of the foolish. Where do they do their engraving? With modern technology, the places where they can reach minds include internet platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, X, YouTube, etc. If that is not sufficient, these evil ones will infiltrate Bible Studies, Fellowship meetings, dinner fellowship, and under the guise of visiting someone or giving a tract, and anywhere where believers are found. The goal is to sow discord. They plant verbal seeds to hurt or ruin relationships between believers.

Peace between brethren is priceless. Once this peace is ruined even in the slightest, it is never the same. Brotherly love is fragile because the trust built over many years can be paper thin. Any whisper of slander, misinformation, or an inconsiderate comparison can pierce through this paper-thin trust. A tiny puncture can easily tear the paper of trust and glueing it back together is almost impossible. Even when anyone succeeds in repairing it, the scar will remain. Proverbs 18:19: “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

Why would those who profess to be believers commit such a foolish act? Do they not know how powerful their words are? Is it not the work of the devil to sow discord? Why would they do the work of the devil?

These possess a deceitful heart. The condemnation of God from Proverbs 12:20 is to convict every evil heart to stop this abominable act of sowing discord. Proverbs 6:16-19: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” No one likes to think he possesses a deceitful heart. Yet the message from God is that the one who imagines (i.e. engraves) evil has such a heart.

Deception is worse than lies in many ways. When the devil possessed the serpent, he used deception to deceive Eve into sin. Through her, Adam ate the forbidden fruit and plunged humanity into sin, death and hell! When a person lies, others who know the truth will recognize the lie and reject it. But deception has the appearance of truth, which makes it more potent. The victim thinks he has been told the truth when he has actually been deceived into thinking so, and thus he acts on it, leading to sin. Was that not how Eve fell into sin? She gave the fruit to her husband, thinking it would also be good for him to be like God (“as God,” Gen 3:5). The motivation for deception is vile and deadly. Those with a deceitful heart cannot be born-again in Christ. Professing believers may dress in Christ’s holy garments and speak softly and kindly the deceptive words of the Old Serpent.

Careless words uttered by well-meaning true believers are just as harmful as those uttered by crafty false ones. They may not intend to hurt, but their words can. All believers must think ten times and then think again before speaking, writing or sending any message, especially in group chats or mass emails. Once the words go forth, will they bring peace or pain?

God says that the counsellors of peace bring joy. Only believers can be counsellors because they have the peace that the Bible speaks of by experiencing peace with God in Christ. One has to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour to make peace with God, for he acknowledges his sins before God and receives Jesus Christ as his substitutionary atonement. With the peace of God in his heart, he can counsel peace to others. When he speaks to unbelievers, he knows the most essential counsel he can give is the gospel message to save them from their sins. All other counsel he provides will not bring peace to their hearts since they are in bondage to sin. Only the blood of Christ can break the bondage and wash their hearts from scarlet to white as snow.

To fellow believers in need, he brings peace to their hearts through godly counsel rooted in God’s holy Word. For example, some brethren may have lost their jobs because of their company retrenchment exercise. The biblical counsel is to help them realize the sovereignty of God and not see this loss as from man but from their loving and gracious heavenly Father. With this truth shared, he must let the brethren know that providing for believers’ physical well-being is God’s responsibility as He promised in Matthew 6:33. Believers’ responsibility is to care for their own spiritual well-being. They must keep on trusting and not doubt their Father’s sovereignty and provision. To realize this lesson on trust at this time, they need to learn the precious experience of living day by day. In this way, peace and joy will return to their hearts.

What blessings can every believer bring to unbelievers and to God's children when their words bring peace and joy in a world of great sin, sadness, quarrels, disagreement, and deception?

God’s church is supposed to be dwelt by God’s family in Christ! Let every believer do his part in maintaining this peace and joy through his words. Take heed of what is sent in all the chat rooms. Ensure it is biblical and will bring peace and joy to God’s children. Be very careful what you put on the web page. All remarks made in this virtual world travel as fast as the speed of thought. If your words do not bring peace and joy, rephrase or delete. Let all conversations during Visitations, Bible Study, Discussion Groups, Fellowships, etc. be seasoned with salt so that every word brings peace and joy to all hearers.

Will it not bring great joy to your heart when your words bring peace and joy to others? It will bring joy to God’s heart when His beloved children speak His Word to bring peace and joy to the brokenhearted and encourage other believers to live more for Christ in holiness, godliness and righteousness according to Scriptures!