It is foolish to belittle a neighbor.

Prov. 11:12  It is foolish to belittle a neighbor, a person with good sense remains silent.

When we belittle someone, it is a reflection of our lack of godly love.  You cannot belittle someone you truly love.  Godly love builds up and never tears down.  It seeks ways to help another to grow and never adds fuel to the fire of damaging another’s self-confidence about their self-worth.  To belittle someone goes contrary to the nature of God and it is sin.  It is foolish to belittle another person knowing how much against the character of God it really is.

If you reallly are tempted to belittle someone, it is far better to bite your tongue and not say anything at all.  To belittle someone is to defame their character and so if you think it’s necessary to put someone down, ask the Lord to put a zipper on your lips. Better yet, ask Him to change your heart to a heart of love so that you won’t even be tempted.

If you have ever been on the receiving end of someone’s belittling, you know how it feels.  No one likes to be made fun of or looked down on because of who they are or what they may have said or done.  Belittling someone can change the course of their life.  The ego is a fragile thing and when it is damaged, a person may never recover.  No matter how justified you may think you are, don’t do it. 

The godly thing for us to do is to lift others up in our prayers, to love them, and strive to build them up.  When someone messes up, we should be there to help them, not judge them.  We are to love others as we love ourselves.  We are to strive to help others become well in Christ, not victims of their mistakes.  We are to treat others as we want to be treated.  We are to never look down on others, thinking we are better than they are. 

In order to be the kind of person God demands us to be, we must diligently seek Him and let Him love others through us.