Two verses stopped me in my tracks this morning. They are from Proverbs 17:27-28- “Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” (ESV)
WOW! Or is that a GULP?
Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying, “It is better to keep one’s mouth shut and thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” Whether he said it or not is not the issue here. What IS the issue is the truth of that statement. Don’t you think it sound strangely like verse 28 that you just read?
The truth of the statement rises to the top. How many times have you said something and as soon as it passed through the doorway to your mouth you wished you could suck it right back in? But we all know the truth of that. You can’t. What is said is said and what is heard is heard. There is no “Return Unsaid” button. I know I have been guilty way more than I care to admit. I know I have hurt a lot of people over my 71 years-a lot more with my words than I have with a gun or a weapon. Unless, of course, you consider my “rapier wit” and my “fire-breathing tongue” a weapon (I do and so does James in James 3). My words have bitten, hurt, wounded, damaged, and even killed people’s spirits. Oh, how I wish I could have them back.
But I can’t. You can’t either. Words cannot be unsaid. Worse: they cannot be unheard. In this case, though, words that do matter are “I’m sorry” or “Please forgive me.”
Two verses will give us the right perspective as well as close our thoughts today. Psalm 119:101 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” God’s words are words we ought to be feeding ourselves with. What goes in comes out. The other Scripture is one we ought to memorize and then paste it everywhere: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Ps.141:3 ESV)
Be careful of what you “eat” today and what you say.
What we say, or don’t say, matters, Bill. Yes, Lord, guard my thoughts and what comes out of my mouth.
Blessings!
It does matter Martha. And that needs to my daily prayer.
Isn’t it funny… probably not the HA HA funny, but anyway…
When we are younger, we have no filter, we say anything and everything without regard to the impact that it might have.
As we grow a little older, and hopefully wiser, the filter forms. Perhaps the filter is from the wake of carnage that we have left behind in our earlier years.
Then… As we continue the path of aging, I am recognizing that my filter is starting to get more holes in it. Things that I would have been a little more cautious about saying, or not saying at all, tend to find their way out of the hole in my face.
Why is that? I see it with the aging relatives close to us as well, where it seems that the filter has completely been removed at times.
You have provided “food for thought” this morning in your wise words!
It’s hard to figure this one out Ryan. 🙂 No. Slight. None. Glad I was “thoughtful” today.
Absolute truth Bill. It seems like the wrong damaging, hurtful words are the ones that are never forgotten. Father, how easily we can hurt someone by the wrong words, guard our mouths, and keep the gate closed on any damaging words. Protect our thoughts so that hurtful stinging words do not even surface in our mind. May our words and thoughts glorify You Father, and may the words we speak be a sweet to others as the words You speak to us.
Thanks for the prayer Gail. And yes, Father, keep the gate closed.
Whew! So much truth here. I regularly pray, “Lord, please set a guard at the gate of my lips, both incoming and outgoing” as I strive to improve my health and eating habits. God is faithful to “check” our spirit when we are getting ready to speak an unkind word and when we are getting ready to eat something detrimental. I am so thankful that He cares about every detail of our lives. He is so faithful!
I, too, am glad for His “check” on my spirit Cheryl. It sure keeps me out of trouble. Now…if I would only listen more often. 🙂