“Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit.” Proverbs 25: 16
This means consuming (not only food) in excess, even in that which is good, leads to disappointment. This verse of Proverbs relates to another verse…
“It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s own glory is not glory.” Proverbs 25: 27
This speaks of the dangers of dwelling on honors or rewards you think you deserve. Dwelling on this can make you bitter, discouraged, and angry. If you sit and sulk over what you should have received will make you miss the satisfaction of knowing you did your best. Let’s jump ahead and look at another Proverb…
“Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—a stranger, not your own lips.” Proverbs 27: 2.
Or let’s look at 2 Corinthians 10: 12, 18… Don’t you just love the way everything in the Bible is connected together? I do!
”Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!
“When people commend themselves,it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.”
Paul was criticizing the false teachers who were trying to prove their goodness by comparing themselves with others. When we compare ourselves with others, we may feel proud because we think we’re better. Can I get an Amen? But things look totally different when we compare ourselves to God’s standards. It becomes obvious that we have absolutely no basis for pride! So don’t worry about other people’s accomplishments. Instead, ask yourself: How does my life measure up to what God wants? Should I change anything in my life to receive God’s approval?
“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” Proverbs 25: 28(NLT)
“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”Proverbs 25: 28(NKJV)
In ancient days, walls surrounded a city for the purpose of protecting. Without walls, people living in the city would be vulnerable to attack by any passing group of marauders. Self-control limits us, to be sure, but it’s necessary. An out-of-control life is open to all sorts of attacks from the enemy. Think of your self-control as a wall for protection. Like a city without walls, the person who cannot control himself is defenseless against outside forces.
