The Cursed Blessing

For Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Proverbs 27:14

Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.

There is the "friend" whom we wish would not be so friendly. He may think that he is sincere in his friendliness, but it is evident that he acts either out of neediness or of self-promotion. He does not think of what we truly need, but of what he wants to do. In this case, he blesses loudly early in the morning, disturbing us and our neighbors. If rebuked, he replies that he only wants to bless us.

And so, out of this "desire" to bless, this friend will impose himself upon us at all times of the day and night and in all sorts of manner. He will embarrass us and inconvenience us out of his perceived motive of love. A true friend loves by taking the time to observe us and know what pleases us and does not please us. A true friend thinks through what is a true blessing. In brief, true friend is respectful of his friend.

We can think of such persons who fit this description of the self-absorbed friend. Are we able to examine ourselves for such traits? It is difficult to separate acting for the good of a neighbor and acting to fulfill our own neediness. The key element is taking the time to observe our friend or neighbor before we act. It is taking the time to observe his body language, to listen to the tone of his voice, and to hearing from him first how he is doing. The true friend, the good neighbor observes first, then acts accordingly so that he blessing does not become counted as a cursing.