by Chadwick Brewer<\/p>\n
“Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 10:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When I was a child, I was told the parable of the ship’s mast. The main mast in a ship might take well over a hundred years to grow to the right size. After it is felled, it takes hundreds of man-hours to shape it, carve it, and treat it to get ready to be a mast. After all that time and work, it would only take a man with a saw a few minutes to chop it down and ruin the whole thing.<\/p>\n
So it is with us. We spend years and decades building our name, reputation, and character, but it only takes a moment’s folly to tear everything down. In a perfume, all of the good scents are over powered and soured by a little rot. So too, our good deeds and wisdom are overshadowed by a little foolishness.<\/p>\n
When you choose your actions, choose them carefully. A good name is better than great riches because it merits trust, respect, and love. It takes a lifetime to earn those things. Don’t throw away all your labor, toil, and hard work for a few moments’ folly. Think before you act or speak.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Chadwick Brewer “Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor” (Ecclesiastes 10:1). When I was a child, I was told the parable of the ship’s mast. The main mast in a ship might take well over a hundred years to grow to the right…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[670,551],"class_list":["post-94630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fools","tag-reputation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-folly-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":0},"title":"The “Folly” of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry This was not the expected script. The time, of course, was right. Four grand empires had been prophesied (cf. Daniel 2, 7); Babylon and Medo-Persia were long gone, the age of the Greeks was over, and Rome was now in power. He was supposed to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60334,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-wisdom-of-prudence\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":1},"title":"The Wisdom of Prudence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling\" (Proverbs 26:27). \"The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it\" (Proverbs 27:12). \"Whoever works his land will have plenty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/squirrels-and-ostriches\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":2},"title":"Squirrels and Ostriches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer We were casually on our way to the meeting house on Sunday morning. As far as I could see, we were the only vehicle on the road, at least for a few turns. Suddenly a squirrel came running out from the left side right toward us, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/squirrel-300x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94073,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acquiring-anothers-reputation\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":3},"title":"Acquiring Another’s Reputation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappalear via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 3, September 1994 \"So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-pride-of-the-drunkard\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":4},"title":"The Pride of the Drunkard","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Basil said, \"Drunkenness is the ruin of reason. It is premature old age. It is temporary death\" (Homilies, c. 375). There are few things engaged in by men that are as self-defeating and destructive as drunkenness. Quite frankly it is stupid beyond reason. A radio commentator recently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/drunkard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-advantage-is-there-to-being-religious\/","url_meta":{"origin":94630,"position":5},"title":"What advantage is there to being religious?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are the advantages of being religious? Answer: Much would depend on what you have in mind when you refer to someone as \"religious.\" Many religions in the world do not offer their followers an advantage. 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