Prudent Indifference
Usually, an attitude of indifference will get you in a lot of trouble in the long run. Ignore problems with your car and you may find yourself broke down on the side of the road with far more costly repairs on the way. Ignore work that you need to get done and the deadline will sneak up on you, causing a lot of anxious late hours.
However, Solomon recorded one case in which it is wise to just let something go. That case is when someone insults you.
The vexation of a fool is known at once,
Proverbs 12:16
but the prudent ignores an insult.
Rush to Complain
With our extremely connected society, it has never been easier to make sure everyone knows when we have been wronged, maybe through a passive aggressive social media post or retelling an incident (often with exaggerated commentary).
There are so many videos of people recording themselves at work to complain about the slightest of offenses they experienced that you could watch them end to end and probably never run out. Not that such a viewing would be good for your mental health! Maybe someone pronounced a name wrong or asked a coworker to get something even though that’s “not their job”.
People are now so eager to let their vexation be known that they cannot even wait until after work to talk it out with a friend! We have truly become a foolish society and many now mistakenly think it a virtue.
Hold Your Tongue
The wisdom literature of scripture regularly reminds the reader about the wisdom of silence.
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Proverbs 17:28
This is because our words can have a lot of effect and wielding it recklessly can cause a lot of damage.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
Proverbs 18:21
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
When someone upsets you, the most important first thing you can do is calm down. Maybe they have intentionally insulted you. Even so, the amount of damage you will cause if you immediately put your feelings to voice will be even worse. Someone who actually has been the victim of careless or hurtful words can be guilty of creating more hurt himself with a reckless retort.
Stop Hurt
In our culture of petty grievance and constant victimhood, the hurt just keeps rolling on. To reverse this trend, we need to practice ignoring insults. Instead of feeding the cycle of miserable rage, we can be the point where the cycle dies.
In foolishness, the world uses insults only as an excuse to cut back and multiply the problems. Wisdom tells us this will eventually just lead to more insults making their way back around next time. We have higher levels of loneliness and social anxiety than ever, and no wonder because we’ve been around the victims-victimizing-others cycle millions of times. The cost of interacting with many is steeper than ever because we’re all terrified to offend.
Be prudent. I guarantee if people aren’t having to walk on eggshells around you, your relationships will be much better!
