Day 20: The power of the tongue - part 1
The tongue reveals what is in the heart and mind. Proverbs is full of wisdom and warnings about our tongues. The tongue is our glory. With it Adam named the animals and spoke with God (Gen. 2:19). With our voices we seek to give the highest praises to God. Yet it is also a restless evil. As James says, "every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue (James 3:7-8)." Surely, on that great Day we will be ashamed of how we have used our tongues. Too little we have praised our Lord and commended all that is good, and too much we have belittled and criticised. The sins of the tongue must be clear to us: saying things false about God, profaning serious things of God, crude joking, careless words, speaking about trivial and frivolous things, and speaking words that puff up our pride whilst bringing others down.
May we not be hasty in our speech, but careful, so that every word that passes our lips will be "choice silver (Prov. 10:20)."
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Prov. 10:11
On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.
- Prov. 10:13
The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.
- Prov. 10:14
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- Prov. 10:20
The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.
- Prov. 10:21
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
- Prov. 10:31
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.
- Prov. 10:32
With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbour, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
- Prov. 11:9
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
- Prov. 11:11
Lord God, it is better to remain silent than to speak foolish, careless and rash words. Please forgive us for when we have not controlled our tongues. Forgive us for being hypocrites with our tongues; praising You, then cursing others.
May we seek that our words encourage and strengthen others in the truth. Let our words be honourable to You. Let our words bless our Creator.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
- Graham Barnes
No comments:
Post a Comment