Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice.

-Proverbs 23:9, NLT

 

Cheaters are stuck in the fools’ camp when they are stuck in their cheating ways.

The only greater fools are the pastors and Christian leaders thinking they can convince the cheater through wise words to halt their folly. It does not work that way as this verse from Proverbs instructs us.

Abuse is what you get from a fool stuck in his or her folly.

If a cheater does not have ears to hear, you are simply wasting your breath and inviting their scorn when sharing how self-destructive their sins are.

How do you know if a cheater has ears to hear or not?

In a word:

Humility.

A cheater who is humble is able to receive wisdom, which includes even “tough love.” The proud cheater is still stuck in their folly, though. They do not have ears to hear. They will reject the rebuke telling them to stop the abusive sin. As such, it is unwise to try and convince a cheater–absent demonstrated humility–that they need to change their ways and truly repent.

Learn from this verse in Proverbs and you will save yourself scorn!

      ____________ *A version of this post ran previously.

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