Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will disdain the wisdom of your words. Proverbs 23:9, TLV

Do You Have an ROI?     “Speak in the ears . . .” Notice this phrase? It took me a while to see the context of this phrase. When we speak — or whisper — in someone’s ear, it implies a type of intimacy. Friendship, love, trust, or hope for these things. When we want to share something important, especially in a noisy environment, we get close to someone’s ear.

It also means “fools” can be close to us. People we work with, are friends with, in our families. According to this proverb, despite our willingness to invest in them, they disdain our words of wisdom. They may be in close proximity to us, but they may not be close to us in our heart — our beliefs.

Does this mean we don’t attempt speaking words of wisdom? That we determine who is a fool?

Our Calling

Within the context of Scripture, we are called to speak the words of eternal life that come from our Messiah (John 6:68). We just need to be careful of our expectations — what their responses will be. The sower scattered the life-giving seeds, but he knew that not all seeds would fully mature. (Matthew 13:1-23).

ROI

There’s a term in business called Return on Investment (ROI). ROI measures the amount of return relative to the investment’s cost. If the return is higher than the investment, the ROI is considered profitable.

For many years, I treated my investment in others as a business deal. Once my investment “costed” me more than the return, I stopped. But that’s not my decision. Only our Heavenly Father knows what the ROI is in a relationship. Only He can determine when my investment is no longer needed.

Likewise, when He guides me to stop, I need to stop. Otherwise, I’m throwing pearls to swines (Matthew 7:6) and those pearls aren’t mine to throw. Still, that can be a sad moment of realization.

Hit the Mark

The only way I will know if I’ve hit that mark is through His wisdom, discernment, and knowledge. On the surface it may appear that I should quit — that there is no future profitability. But our Father sees the future. That’s why I must follow His lead. And that’s a good thing no matter what.

Think More About It

How is your ROI? Is the Lord telling you to keep investing despite no return? Or is He telling you to keep investing?

Until tomorrow, may we speak wisdom in obedience to our Father’s leading, my friends.

My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you,
to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.
My desire is to bless those who bless you,
but whoever curses you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 12:2-3, TLV

Talk about a Return on Investment. Blessing Israel will be a blessing. They have already been a great blessing to the nations for thousands of years. Our Savior. Scripture. Medical inventions and advancements. The same with agricultural and technology. So, even though we may not see a return on our investments with our prayers for peace, it will come. And with that assurance we keep praying. Chag Semeach and God bless.