Proverbs 25:17-28: a reflection

Among these proverbs is a vivid image of the danger of a life without self-control: like a city broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint. Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint, the proverb says. In the ancient world, a city's walls were its protection; a city without walls lay exposed and defenseless, open to every attack. So, the proverb says, is a person without self-control: exposed, defenseless, unable to guard themselves against the impulses and passions that would overrun them. Self-control is like a wall that protects; without it, we lie open to what would harm us. This shows the protective value of self-control, and the vulnerability of its lack. Self-control is a wall that guards us; without it we are exposed. A life without restraint lies open like a wall-less city. Self-control protects; its lack leaves us defenseless. Without self-control, we are exposed to what would overrun us.

Notice the image and its meaning. A city without walls was terribly vulnerable; the walls were what kept out enemies, what protected the people within. A city broken down and wall-less lay open to every attack, defenseless. The proverb says a person without self-control is just like that: exposed, defenseless, with no wall to guard against the impulses, passions, and temptations that would overrun them. Self-control functions like a protective wall, guarding us, keeping in check what would otherwise run riot, keeping out or holding back what would harm us. Without it, we are at the mercy of every impulse and passion, defenseless against what would overrun our lives. This shows us the real value and importance of self-control. It is not a joyless restriction, but a protection, a wall that guards our lives and keeps us from being overrun by our own impulses. We do well to cultivate self-control, the restraint that guards us, rather than living without restraint, exposed and defenseless. Self-control is a protective wall, not a joyless restriction. Without self-control we are at the mercy of every impulse. Cultivate the self-control that guards your life like a wall. A life without restraint lies defenseless against what would overrun it.

That is worth taking to heart, for self-control is a protective wall that guards our lives, and its lack leaves us exposed and defenseless, like a city without walls. We can see self-control as a joyless restriction, and living without restraint as freedom; but the proverb shows that a person without self-control is like a city broken down and wall-less, exposed to every attack, at the mercy of every impulse and passion. Self-control protects us. Cultivate the self-control that guards your life like a wall, rather than living without restraint, exposed to what would overrun you. Cultivate the self-control that guards your life like a protective wall, rather than living without restraint and lying exposed, for the proverb likens a man whose spirit is without restraint to a city that is broken down and without walls; for in the ancient world a city's walls were its protection, and a city without walls lay exposed and defenseless, open to every attack, and so is a person without self-control, at the mercy of the impulses, passions, and temptations that would overrun them, with no wall to guard them, so that self-control is not a joyless restriction but a protection, a wall that guards our lives and keeps in check what would otherwise run riot, and we do well to cultivate the self-control that guards us rather than living without restraint, exposed and defenseless against what would overrun our lives.