Proverbs 10:18

Proverbs 10:18 "He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool."

Everyone sins.  Sin doesn’t define a fool nor does it define a wise man.  Solomon clearly knew this fact based on what he said in his prayer at the Temple Dedication when he prayed, “for there is no man that sinnet not,” (1 Kings 8:46).  Solomon didn’t write his proverbs in such a way to suggest that fools are sinners and that the wise are saints.  He did however, write his proverbs in such a way to describe how the foolish embrace and feed sin because of their foolishness.  All of us sin but not all of us are foolish with our sin.  All of us give in to sin but not all of us grow our sin.  

In this proverb, Solomon is defining a fool by how they handle their hatred.  Every one experiences hatred at some point in their life but not everyone handles that hatred the same way.  Because the human soul is wildly emotional, hatred is easy to entertain.  And because human nature is wildly self-centered, hatred is easy to embrace.  We very easily hate someone who hurt us.  We very easily hate someone who hurt people we love.  We easily hate someone who betrayed us.  We easily hate someone who stole from us.  We easily hate someone who is cruel to us.  We hate with ease those who disagree with us.  We hate strangers that we’ve never met simply because they represent an ideology that we hate.  We hate companions of people that hate us.  The human race is full of hatred towards one another merely on the basis of color, gender, nationality and political party.  Hate comes into our heart speedily and at times, without warning, or so it seems.  Fools experience hatred.  The wise experience hatred.  Fools embrace hatred.  The wise at times, because they are not perfect, embrace hatred.  That being said, it is what the fool does with his hatred that makes him a fool.  While it would not be unlike the wise to hide their hatred with silent lips, the fool hides his hatred with lying lips.  The fool demonstrates his foolishness by trying to hide his hatred for someone by spreading lies about them.
 
When hatred rises in our hearts, how we handle it reveals who we are.  The wise may try to conceal it but they won’t try to conceal it by lying for they are wise enough to know that those lies will reveal their hatred.  A wise person knows that the truth almost always comes out and when it does, that truth will uncover the hatred the liar has for the person he or she slandered.  A wise person may struggle with dealing with his hatred but he won’t try to cover it up by lying about it.  In fact, it is this wisdom that will force a wise person to confront his hatred so that he can remove it from his heart.  The fool lacks the wisdom necessary to know that the truth almost always comes out and ignorantly believes he can cover up his hatred by making the person he hates looks bad.  He truly believes that people will believe his lies.  He sincerely believes that people will hate the person he hates because of the lies he spreads.  He ultimately thinks that his hatred for that person will then be justified because other people hate that person as well.  His foolishness is exposed by his lies. 

Solomon emphasized wisdom in the Book of Proverbs so that his readers would choose the virtue that will keep them out of trouble and protect them from moral failure.  But because Solomon knew that moral perfection is impossible for mankind, he emphasized wisdom because it is the virtue that would help his readers get out of sin without becoming enslaved to it.  The wise sin just as the foolish sin because both are human.  The big difference between the wise and the foolish is that the wise address their sin wisely while the foolish address their sin foolishly.  The wise assess their sin and the consequences of it accurately.  The foolish assess their sin and the consequences of it deceitfully.  The wise have the sense to get out of their sin while the foolish lack that sense and choose more sin to cover up their sin.  In this case, the foolish lie to cover up their hatred.  When the lies are proven untrue, the foolish will lie to cover up those lies.  The foolish lack the wisdom to properly deal with their sin.
 
Everyone makes mistakes and everyone gets morally stuck in life.  How you handle that moral hole reveals your character.  Perhaps this proverb could be effectively illustrated in the upcoming winter season here in Western New York with winter driving.  Everyone is subject to slippery conditions on the roads and no matter the age or experience, everyone is likely to end up getting stuck in the snow at some point in their lives.  The ignorant and inexperienced driver will slam down the accelerator and keep it slammed down until, in their minds, they get unstuck.  Their attempts to get unstuck are foolish and only get them stuck deeper in the snow.  The wise and experienced driver knows that they have to go forward a little bit and then backwards a little bit. The wise driver knows that they have to be careful not to get themselves stuck even deeper so they will do a variety of things to get themselves out of the snow, including putting something underneath their tire or dig out the snow around their car.  We all get stuck in sin but the fool gets himself stuck deeper because he lacks wisdom.

Wisdom is critical because it helps KEEP US OUT of life’s biggest problems but it is also important because it helps GET US OUT of life’s common problems.  It’s one thing to watch a person you love make mistakes.  It’s an entirely different thing to watch a fool you love make mistakes.  Christian, get wisdom.  Christian parent, teach your children to get wisdom.