“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Proverbs 15:1-2
At my first office job, I had a manual typewriter. At the end of each day, I had to type a long letter with several carbon copies. If I made a mistake, I had to erase it on each copy and retype it. Now as I am typing this on my computer, I can easily fix a mistake, just backspace, and remove it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to the words we speak. Once words leave our mouth, we cannot take them back. I found this quote:
“Make sure your brain is engaged before putting your mouth in gear, unfortunately, there is no backspace on our mouth.”
Am I the only one who often speaks without thinking? How many times have you tried to go to sleep at night and beat yourself up over something you said during the day, and wish you could go back and say it differently? It has happened to me.
Solomon gave us much advice about our conversations and how they affected those around us. Here are a few, but please take time to look up some of the others.
15:23 “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”
23:16 “Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.”
When we have been careful in our conversations throughout the day, we can lay our heads on the pillow at night, rejoicing because we have been a blessing and encouragement to others. When we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will speak the words that He wants us to speak.
The New Testament writer, James described the perfect man:
James 3:2 “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, our tongues can get us into a lot of trouble, but we pray that you will help us to listen to your voice, and to let your Spirit guide every word that we speak. Make us a blessing to all we meet.
Devotion by Anne Johnston
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