Day 2 The Flattering Tongue

The adventure continues... Interestingly I have had much opportunity already to test my tongue temperature!
Flattery according to dictionary.com means a flattering compliment or speech;excessive insincere praise.
This use of the tongue is very familiar to me as I both received this and in turn used it for many years. I believe the root cause of this is insecurity and not having a true sense of identity.
The author suggests that engaging in flattery shows our lack of faith in God's ability to give us favor with others. All through the Bible there are many examples of God's children having favor with man. It usually involved much time of waiting and preparation. If we use flattery, it creates instant although empty results.
My Mom, bless her soul, spoke much in the way of flattery to me. The author says that if you over compliment a person the flower of your words will soon wilt and lose all impact. This is exactly the effect Mom's words created. They became hollow to me, perhaps early on there was temporary uplifting, but soon they were meaningless. I don't think this was her conscious intention but it took many years to receive things from others without thinking it was empty words.
Psalm 12:3 'May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue' I don't want to lose the blessings of God by this careless use of my tongue.
I think flattery is sometimes mixed up with compliments. Compliment according to dictionary.com is an expression of praise, commendation or admiration.
Remember flattery is excessive and insincere while a compliment is genuine.
One of our tongue temperature checks for this can be a check of our motives when bringing praise. As Deborah Pegue says people generally look with disfavor, rather than favor on someone who compliments them with no apparent reason.
If you find yourself giving flowery praise, what are your intentions?
Speaking the Truth
(The author has todays affirmations as the closing of her chapters. I will close my daily entries with Speaking the Truth. I know speaking God's truth out loud is powerful and key in changing things in our hearts.)
'I will show partiality to no one, nor will I flatter any man, for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away.' Job 32:21,22