“Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”
Proverbs 10:19 NLT
Ever had one of those moments in life when a loved one or girlfriend sought your advice, then turned around and did exactly what you had warned against? To make matters worse, you responded with the never-ending tirade of questions and the numerous reasons why she should have listened to you. The more you spoke, the worse it got. She was feeling great remorse, but you just kept crushing her spirit into the ground. I must confess; I have been guilty of such talk.
Chances are I’m not alone. After all, we women need to speak on average about 20,000 words a day, you know. However, that doesn’t excuse what Proverbs calls a sin producer – too much talk! Like today’s verse, sometimes we need to zip our lips.
A similar temptation we often face is what I’ll call ‘whispering words’. You know, those juicy bits of gossip someone shares and before you know it, you’re doing the same thing in the name of a prayer request. We would be wise to heed the warning
in Proverbs 26:22 NASB:
“The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body.”
Just like a delicious piece of chocolate pecan toffee or a delectable bite of cheesecake that we savor and swallow, so are our whispering words. They go deep into the heart of the hearer. Before we damage another person’s reputation, we would be wise to hold our tongues.
Oftentimes, we mean well in our verbosity. We so want to help, but instead we may be guilty of quenching the work of the Holy Spirit. Oswald Chambers shares some wise counsel in My Utmost for His Highest – Aug. 1st:
Are we playing the spiritual amateur providence in other lives? Are we so noisy in our instruction of others that God cannot get anywhere near them? We have to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert.
The next time you find yourself lending a listening ear for a troubled soul, ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment. He will give you the words if you need to speak; He will also help you hold your tongue if you need to keep quiet. Beloved sisters, let’s be found sensible as we watch what we say.
[Digging deeper – Prov. 13:3, 17:27-28, 21:23, 26:20; Eccl. 3:7b]
Zipping the lips,
Beverly <><
Because there are over one hundred verses relating to the mouth, lips, tongue, and speech found in Proverbs, it’s impossible to cover the wealth of information in five short doses. So, hang with me as I attempt to whet your appetite to do further study on your own. With that in mind, I want to zoom in on chapter 10 of Proverbs and compare the mouth of the righteous to that of the wicked and foolish person.
The silent atmosphere in the truck between Emory and me was tense. Miscommunication and assumption on both our parts had resulted in raised voices, heightened emotions, and blame. What had started out as a fun errand had turned into a sullied stand-off. Apologies and forgiveness were eventually given, but our careless words over an insignificant disagreement had been anything but right!