A SUBJECT THAT DESPERATELY NEEDS
TO BE ADDRESSED
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21)
Maybe we do not take seriously enough the consequence of the words that we speak. Paul wrote to the believers at Colossae: “Let your speech be ALWAYS with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye out to answer every man” (Colossians 4:6). In other words, we need to be very cautious, selecting our words carefully, so that what we say is easily understood (margin…plain) and never with the intention of hurting another person. Sadly, or so it seems to me, our words are often either (1) deliberately designed to hurt – or upset – another person (get back at them), or (2) simply not properly weighed before spoken, without any consideration for what the consequences might be. We’ve often heard the cliché, “open mouth…insert foot.” And some people are adept and getting both feet in their mouth at the same time. And, someone has said, “the only time some people don’t have their foot in their mouth is when they are changing feet.”
The Bible also tells us that we should be “…swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). Solomon wrote: “a fool’s lips enter into contention” (Proverbs 18:6); “every fool will be meddling” (Proverbs 20:3); “a fool is full of words” (Ecclesiastes 10:14). The solution: “study to be quiet” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). “In patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19).
I have only scratched the surface on this important subject. Our job is to let our petitions be presented to the Lord in prayer. HE will work on our behalf if we don’t take things into our own hands. Remember, more times than not, “the best defense is no defense” – just keep your mouth shut and tell it to Jesus alone. THINK ON THESE THINGS!