I'm grateful for the gift of free will. Sure it would be easier in some ways if we just did what we were told - no moral dilemma, no vacillating, no concern for outcome since it would be out of our control. But free will is a gift because it ensures we aren't robots, that we get to make mistakes and make victories. It ensures that when we choose faith or not that it is our choice and we weren't forced into anything. It gives us a chance to navigate the mountains and valleys of self-discipline, choices, conflict, etc. I'm grateful that I have been gifted with free will by the author of my life, that he doesn't want me to serve him because I am forced to but because I choose to.
There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.
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