Proverb of the Day: "A Kiss on the Lips"

"An honest answer
       is like a kiss on the lips." (Proverbs 24:26, NIV)

How is honesty like a kiss on the lips? It's intimate. Think about it - how much easier is it to avoid hurting someone's feelings by simply telling her what she wants to hear? He asks a question, you say what he wants to hear, and we all move along. Simple, right?

But when someone dares to be honest with us, well, that changes things, doesn't it? An honest answer means someone was actually listening: "If that's the way he treats you, I think you should break up with him. RIGHT NOW."

Whoa. Now what?!? You just encountered someone actually listening to you, my friend. And in reply, you got an honest answer. See how intimate things suddenly got? Now you know where I stand on your relationship - I'm vulnerable, you're vulnerable, our whole relationship might very well hinge on how you react to my honesty. And that kind of vulnerability is true intimacy.

Understand this, though: intimacy doesn't necessarily mean cuddling and candlelight. Intimacy has more to do with letting our true self be known to others. Sounds like honesty, doesn't it? And so we come full circle: "An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips."

Or, to put it a bit more succinctly: Honesty = intimacy.

Comments

[Martha]

this quote, I think, is more about your relationship with God. Who else can you tell everything to and know that you are still loved. It feels good to tell truths to God. It is like a kiss on the lips, it makes you smile, it makes you happy, you are no longer alone, it heals,
Martha

[scott - minneapolis wedding photographer]

I was just researching this verse and came across this excellent advise. Great wisdom Kurt.