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Proverbs 25:28:
"If you live without restraint and are unable to control your temper, you’re as helpless as a city with broken-down defenses, open to attack."
Today's Episode: All That Power and No Walls
You ever know somebody that everybody has to prepare themselves to be around?
“Now, don’t bring that up. You know how he gets.”
Huffing. Puffing. Everybody checking the weather before they open their mouth. And that person may think, “See? They know who’s in charge.”
Well... they know who might go off. That’s a little different.
Imagine a sound system powerful enough to shake the windows. Big speakers. Plenty of bass. But the controls are sitting out where anybody can reach them. One little twist, and somebody else decides what the whole room hears.
All that power and no walls.
Proverbs 25:28 in The Passion Translation compares an uncontrolled temper to a city with broken-down defenses. That city might have plenty worth protecting. Without those walls, though, it’s exposed.
We usually picture the angry person as the threat. Wisdom points out how vulnerable that person is.
Sometimes we get loud because we’re scared nobody will listen otherwise. We threaten to take over because underneath all that noise, we feel powerless. And once people learn exactly which remark sets us off, they can steer us with it.
The bluff becomes the tell.
Now, being angry doesn’t make you weak. There are things we ought to be angry about. But when somebody can provoke you into damaging a relationship you love, they’ve gotten way too close to the controls.
And I have to ask myself: am I handling this, or am I being handled?
Self-control takes some honest checking. What hurt just got touched? Why do I need everybody to back down? Can I hear criticism without turning the conversation into a confrontation?
With practice, we can notice that rising heat and ask for a minute. Then come back and say what needs saying. We can even apologize for how we said it the first time.
That’s a wall worth building.
🔥 REMEMBER
Self-control doesn’t diminish your power. It keeps other people from manipulating it.
🙏🏽 PRAYER
God, help me handle my power with patience and wisdom.
🎯 TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Write down one remark that reliably sets you off. Underneath it, write: “Give me a minute. I want to answer carefully.” Practice saying that sentence aloud three times.
About the Author
Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch
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24 Oct 2026
The Kiss of an Honest Answer
Proverbs 24:26:
"An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips."
Today's Episode: The Kiss of an Honest Answer
Some sales pitches come with so much fine print, you need reading glasses and the gift of discernment.
“It’s all included!”
Until you find out what “all” doesn’t include.
And when you ask about it, somebody says, “Well, technically, we never said that.”
Technically. That word has done some heavy lifting for people trying to keep your money.
Proverbs 24:26 says,
An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips.
The surrounding sayings confront favoritism in judgment and calling guilty people innocent. In that setting, a straight answer carries honor. You respect somebody enough to tell them the truth.
Bring that into business. Can people trust what we say without hiring somebody to interpret what we left out?
I thought about AriZona iced tea and those big cans marked down lower than everything else surrounding it. It’s almost unreal…can I trust it?
Co-founder Don Vultaggio has defended their low prices for years. As AriZona quotes him, “I don’t want to raise prices just because I can.”
That last part got me. Just because I can.
Keeping a drink affordable doesn’t prove everything about a business is righteous. But that decision gives us something worth considering: we can make a living while caring about the person paying us.
The customer is somebody trying to stretch a paycheck, too.
Psalm 15:1-4 describes a person who keeps an oath even when it hurts. That means my word still matters after keeping it becomes inconvenient.
Maybe I quoted the job too low. Maybe telling the customer what they need would mean selling them less.
Can I fix my mouth to tell the whole truth then?
Fix it! You can do it!
And honesty reaches beyond the cash register. Sometimes the answer somebody deserves is, “I can’t promise that,” or, “I made a mistake.”
An honest answer gives people solid ground to stand on. They can make a decision without wondering what you’re hiding.
There’s affection in that kind of respect.
🔥 REMEMBER
Give people an answer they can trust, even when the truth costs you something.
🙏🏽 PRAYER
God, make my words trustworthy when honesty costs me something.
🎯 TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Review one promise or offer you’ve made. Identify anything unclear, then send the person a plain-language clarification today, including any cost or limitation they need to know.
About the Author
Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch
📱 Experience Proverbs Daily by Subscribing!
Ready to receive daily wisdom directly on your phone?
Go to proverbsdaily.org for the app or just click that Subscribe button right now!
Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe (https://heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
23 Oct 2026
My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me
Proverbs 23:33:
"Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities."
Today's Episode: My Mind Is Playing Tricks on Me
Back in the 90’s the Geto Boys gave us a song you could ride to all day long and still get uneasy when you paid attention to the lyrics!
“My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me.”
In Bushwick Bill’s verse, he imagines a Halloween outing that turns into a fight with a strange old man. Then the figure disappears. So do his companions. It wasn’t even Halloween.
He’s alone, with injured hands. He’s been beating the concrete.
The enemy wasn’t there. But the wounds were.
Proverbs 23:33 in the Berean Standard Bible says,
Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
The surrounding passage describes the downside of alcoholism: confused perception, unexplained injuries, and the urge to reach for another drink. Wisdom is showing us what happens when addiction interrupts reality.
And here’s the wider question I hear: what else have we allowed to interrupt our reality?
Resentment can make an innocent question sound like disrespect.
Ego can hear helpful correction as somebody trying to take your crown.
Baby, nobody came for your crown. They asked you to move your car.
But we’ve already recruited our whole body and soul into the argument. Shoulders tight. Voice raised. Words coming to mind and flying out of our mouth with no filter and no real excuse why we’ve gone ham.
The most dangerous distortions are the ones we’ve renamed as ‘normal’.
That brings me to the story of Jacob wrestling through the night. Genesis calls his opponent a man. Jacob says he encountered God. Hosea describes an angel.
I also see a picture of Jacob wrestling with himself in that encounter. That’s my contemplative reading; the text doesn’t identify the opponent as Jacob’s inner self…but…it wasn’t even Halloween…right?
Still, it leaves me asking: who—or what—are you really fighting?
Is the person or circumstance in front of you responsible for everything you’re feeling? Or has this moment stirred up an older unresolved hurt?
That hurt deserves care. We can seek support while taking responsibility for what we do with it.
Before you swing, send, or speak, take a breath and ask yourself if your mind is just playing tricks on you.
🔥 REMEMBER
A distorted mind can invent an enemy and leave you carrying real wounds from an imaginary fight.
🙏🏽 PRAYER
God, clear my vision and guide my responses with love.
🎯 TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Before answering one upsetting message, write two lines: “What they actually said” and “What I assumed.” Read them to someone you trust before deciding how to respond.
About the Author
Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch
📱 Experience Proverbs Daily by Subscribing!
Ready to receive daily wisdom directly on your phone?
Go to proverbsdaily.org for the app or just click that Subscribe button right now!
Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe (https://heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
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