Proverbs 25:15-20

Proverbs 25:15-20English Standard Version
​15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded,
    and a soft tongue will break a bone.
16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you,
    lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house,
    lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor
    is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble
    is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart
    is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,
    and like vinegar on soda.

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Solomon continues his lessons on how being kind is not only the right way to live, but also is wiser because it is more likely to get people to listen to you, get you what you want, and help you get ahead in life.  People will remember your kindness and want to be kind to you.  Soft words are a strong weapon that can disable an enemy.  However, do not flatter people with fake kindness--that is sickening like feeding them too much honey (eating too many sweets).

Don't spend so much time at your friend's house that it feels like you live there--he will get sick of you.  Living together with close friends can make things tricky too.  You want housemates that you can trust, but the stresses of living together can strain or even break the friendship--many times people are better friends apart from each other than living with each other each and every day.

If you spread lies about your neighbor (especially in court, but not necessarily in court), don't be surprised if that person treats you like someone who has physically assaulted them with weapons of war and stays far away from you or wants nothing to do with you.

It's bad enough to be fooled by a scoundrel when things are going well and you maybe can afford to be taken advantage of (though it still feels awful when this happens).  However, there is a special kind of evil person that looks to take advantage of people and prey on them when they are already going through trouble and are weak and distracted and more vulnerable.  The people that do this are especially wicked and it feels really bad to be taken advantage by them because you know you should have known better, but you were just too trusting of people in your vulnerable state.

Last, but not least for today, people don't always need you to cheer them up.  Sometimes they just need to let you grieve (or, better yet, grieve with you).  Solomon will tell us in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything including times to mourn and weep.  Don't steal from someone their time they need to grieve.  You may be making things more painful for them.