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Perversity


          From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be silenced. The lips of the righteous know what finds favor, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. (Proverbs 10:21-32)
          Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)
           But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) 
          Perverse: (of a person or their actions) showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences.
                The way we talk and what we say matters to God. From today’s proverbs, it seems clear that God doesn’t approve of perverse mouths. Perversity is associated with wickedness. I’ve included Romans 1:28-32 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5to give us some idea of what God considers wickedness, and therefore, perversity.  It’s not an exhaustive or comprehensive list, but it gives some ideas. I suspect we’ll all find ourselves somewhere in that list. Because in our human nature, we’re all wicked. But the perverse do it on purpose, knowing better. 
                I guess that’s one of the things that bothers me when people use bad language, then say, “Excuse my French.” (Well, that and the fact that more often than not, the French word for what they’re saying is considered more polite than the Anglo Saxon word – but that’s another story.) That’s my problem when I eat too much. That’s the problem when we do any of those things we know we shouldn’t do, but we do it because we want to. When our kids do that, we say they’re being rebellious, obstinate, stubborn…. When we do it, “it’s our right, we’re adults.” In saying that, I suspect we’re proving we’re not adults, because we have no self-control.

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