Proverbs 7:21

So she seduced him with her pretty speech.  With her flattery she enticed him.

Proverbs 7:21

It really has to do with our insecurities.  We want to say something so that someone will think we are special.  Men want to be impressive and be revered.  Women want to feel loved and desirable.  And we all turn to our words to get a cheap injection of it.  And most of the time we go down the roads of pretty speech and flattery because we were to weak and lazy to do it right.  

Let me explain.  We many times choose the cheapest product.  It takes the least resources to accomplish the task.  We might get Dr. Thunder instead of Dr. Pepper.  Cocoa Rocks instead of Cocoa Puffs.  And for the most part we are satisfied.  There might be slight differences, but we are okay with it, because the product is cheaper, which means we had to work less for it.  I remember when that paradigm shifted for me.

It was the day I discovered Cottonelle toilet paper.  

See I had always been taught just to get the toilet paper that was on sale at the time.  Or which ever one might have a coupon to go with it.  But one day it was this brand called Cottonelle that was on sale.  So i grabbed it and reality changed forever.  Somehow the makers of this particular toilet paper had found the perfect formula or mixture or engineering that allowed for amazing pillow softness with tough durability.  It was the perfect toilet paper and I could not believe how amazing it was.  And from that day forth, I was hooked.  I couldn’t walk into a store and get any other toilet paper.  In fact, just last night I went into one of those value grocery joints and relief rushed over me when I saw the Cottonelle.  It was like light shone on it from heaven.  

And here is the deal.  It takes more money for me to get that brand, but it is oh so worth it.  And it is harder to spend our compliments on our spouses.  It’s like recognition from one person isn’t enough or we get tired of continuously working so hard to keep things fresh.  You can’t use the same old lines and dates at McDonald’s aren’t near as cool as they use to be.  So for some reason we we turn to easier substitutes, cheap alternatives.  We complement the new coworker who is trying to fit in and then make out of our way trips just to go by their office.  We share parts of our stories way too quickly just to somehow feel important and we invite total strangers into the depths of our soul just to feel meaning.  

The whole time, we could be dreaming up new ways to let our spouses know how we love them.  Do different.  Think different.  Love the same person.  No one knows you like your spouse and instead of giving into this culture who tells you to get the cheapest thing that gets the job done, invest in the person you committed to.  Put the extra effort in.  It’s worth it.  And when you taste the success of deep love and true commitment and lasting connectedness it will be better than any fake relationship this world has to offer us.  

And with consistency you don’t even look for substitutes.  It starts to seem silly.  I mean, you have something real.  

Whenever I go to Foodland I don’t even have to think about where Cottonelle is anymore.  I know.  I could walk there blindfolded.  And sometimes there is some new brand and I think, wow that looks cool.  But I remember how Cottonelle has never let me down.  I quit worrying about the price because I know the product.

Work hard and love hard.  Your spouse is worth it.

Q