Words are so important. At least that is what I am getting from Proverbs. I have been reading that book with it’s various nuggets of wisdom for devotions lately, and I have noticed that a ton of those little two-liners have to do with words, or the tongue, or lips, or the mouth. Lots of those include something about knowledge, wisdom, folly, that sort of thing.
I will admit that this summer I have let my language standards go a bit. Bad words have become a part of my mental vocabulary, and sometimes even my audible vocabulary as well. But Proverbs is convicting me. Not only in vocabulary usage, but gossip, and idle words as well.
“He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame.”
“From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.”
“Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool—how much worse lying lips to a ruler!”
“A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool.”
“A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.”
“A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.”
“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.”
And here is one that blows my mind and I’m not even sure I understand what it means: “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.”
This book is making me think. I’m trying to read deeper and actually trying to decipher what some of these mean. I need to pay more attention to what I say and try to make it godly. I want to be wise. I want to be prudent and discerning. And I think I need to start by being aware of and careful with what comes out of my real mouth AND my mental mouth.
