“…they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage” (Jude 16).
Flattery is a losing proposition. It harms both the hearer and the speaker.
Springing from a heart of insincerity, it is a grotesque, yet often subtle, counterfeit of genuine praise. Perverted by an evil ulterior motive, flattery is a most effective spiritual weapon in the arsenal of the ungodly.
Flatterers often are successful in gaining an advantage over the targets of their insincere speech. The swelling words uttered by their mouths are designed to swell the heads of those whose ears hear their feigned praise.
“A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet” (Proverbs 29:5).
BEWARE of the danger of flattery.
