| “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” – Proverbs 10:19 |
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| LEARNING NOT TO TALK It is not long after a baby is born we begin to assist them in learning to TALK and WALK. As they make a variety of sounds, we seek to help them form their words so that one day we will hear DADA come from their mouth. (Of course, there are those who want to hear MAMA first!) As parents we naturally want our children to learn to talk so we spend time teaching them to talk. I heard somewhere that we spend our first two years teaching a child to talk and walk and then for the rest of our lives we are telling them to sit down and be quiet! HMMM. While the above statement is made somewhat in jest there is some truth to it as after we learn to talk and walk, we do need to LEARN when NOT to TALK and LEARN where NOT to WALK. As we consider the various teachings from the Bible, I find Proverbs 10:19 to be one of my most valuable verses for LIFE. It tells how an unrestrained mouth can produce sin! Our tongue can get us in TROUBLE! Has your tongue ever gotten you in TROUBLE? I bet it has. I know mine has. Proverbs 10:19 tells us it is crucial to learn when NOT to talk. A wise person is going to be very selective of WHAT they SAY, WHEN they SPEAK, WHERE they SPEAK, WHOM they speak of and to, HOW they speak, and definitely think about WHY they are speaking. The WISE person puts into action Ecclesiastes 3:7b which says, “There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;” The WISE person puts into action Proverbs 25:11 as it says, “A word spoken at the right time is like golden apples on a silver tray.” In other words, the right word said by the right person at the right time in the right way to the right person will be incredibly VALUABLE to that person! Having learned to talk how are you doing in LEARNING NOT TO TALK? How quickly can you STOP WRONG and INAPPROPRIATE WORDS FROM PROCEEDING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH? Like me, you may need help in learning NOT to talk. I have found several prayers to pray so that my words are few (Ecclesiastes 5:2) and that I RESTRAIN my lips from saying the wrong things. From Psalms 19:14 we have the prayer “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” And from Psalm 141:3 we have “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” I encourage you to pray these prayers to help you RESTRAIN YOUR LIPS! Verse to DATE the Word on October 19 (10/19) is Proverbs 10:19. It says, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” While I have always recommended to students to take a speech class to learn how to talk you might need a good Bible study to learn how NOT to talk! Continue Strong and be wise with your words! And remember to DATE the WORD |