Wisdom Series -“Governing Speech” (Proverbs 10)

Wisdom Series -“Governing Speech” (Proverbs 10)

 

The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.Vs.11

 

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. Vs. 19-21

 

The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.Vs 31&32 ( use pro 15:1&4) d

A man or women, young adult or child is readily know by their choice of words and how they use them. Especially if one claims faith in Christ, proper speech is critical. David in Psalms 19:14 and 141:13 prayed,“ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” And 141 “Set a guard O Lord, over my mouth; keep a watch over the door of my lips.” ( ESV)  Another very important verse is in Ephesians 4:29“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” The difficulty of controlling ones speech is noted in James 3:6, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” And of one can control it you are considered a ” perfect( mature) man, able also to bridle his whole body.” Yet what is the source of having a tongue that brings healing, a tongue that seeks to be encouraging, speaking words that edify and build up. What has to happen inside of us for this to happen?

 Jesus said in Luke 6:45  “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” So, we see that kind speech is more than just a “practice,” because practice can fail. Kind speech speaks of a heart that has been touched by God’s grace. How easy it is to speak kindly and patiently when life is going our way. However when times are hard, what words do we use? It is those times that define us and speaks of our core character and values. The saying, “just don’t get him/her mad,” means what? That he/ she is fine when life has no hiccups in it, but watch out when it does. It refers to a character that is self focused, lacking care on how it addresses others when it is inconvenienced and or put out.

 And this is were we must change. The internal mechanism that is faulty is the lack of respect for myself. And because I lack respect for myself I will lack respect for you. Therefore when angered or put out, kindness will definitely not be that which I will be speaking. Another  example, if you say, ” I’m so stupid” or something to that effect when you make a mistake, you lack self respect. You have no authority to call yourself this if you are the temple of God. You need to respect the work of the Holy Spirit in you in seeking to conform you into the image of Christ, even if it’s a very slow process,” you have been bought with a price, and you are no longer your own ( I Cor. 6:20) …and that is (with) the precious blood of Christ ( 1Peter1:19).” You need to spend more time with Him, making Him your top priority,  and you will feel better about yourself. Respecting yourself and then respecting others will follow.

What is that “good treasure” then that allows us to speak forth “a well of life?” Words that heal, words that by intent seek to benefit the hearer. The answer is easy, the doing is hard; a heart that has been crucified for Christ, having died to self and reborn by His love and to His love. It becomes the end of me, my way, me first etc. Before “good treasure” can be placed and kept in me, me has to die. Hence the reason for trials – it breaks “me ” down, much like boot camp or breaking in a horse. It makes me willing and wanting to do it his way and seek to be filled with His Holy Spirit, now tired of me.

The greatest change in my life came when I truly knew God loved me. I heard it told to me my whole life and mentally I believed it and also because of the Cross.  However my early life as a believer was a struggle, being a Christian was very difficult. Later I would learn that I was really acting and doing all the right things to earn God’s favor. However subconscious I did not believe that I had God’s favor. As such I had to be super conscience of my speech so that I would say and do the right things. A time came when everything, and I do mean everything, came crashing down and there was no hope to be found. My ability to discipline myself, control the circumstances and my speech had failed. In that very dark and desperate hour my prayer to the Lord came from a depth in my soul that I had never accessed before. I told Him that if He wanted this mess that I wanted Him and needed Him. I confessed my soldier boy life and acknowledged that I had lived as such to earn His approval. The answer was immediate. I felt his presence, his forgiveness and most importantly his love. I now knew that I was accepted completely, whether I did it right or not. I learned that it was me He wanted, the right actions would come in time as I continually surrendered my heart to Him.

 In times before when I had been in tight spots and cried out I always had a plan B. This time there was no plan B, but now with Him, I didn’t need one. God I believe was waiting for this moment when “soldier boy” would put down his arms and surrender completely. In this dark hour, believing that I was losing everything is when I gained the one thing that I could never lose, His love. This would be the biggest course change of my life which would be a foundation of confidence for the future difficulties I would be facing. I felt Divinely loved, Divinely forgiven and I felt hope. This new confidence would be tested as I had years of damage repair to work through with my wife which had been on the receiving end of “soldier boy.” So my heart was changing, and in changing it became increasingly easier to speak words of kindness. Also to seek good for others, even if the good did not come to me. I was learning that all the “good” I needed I already had, a real life relationship with God through Christ. There was no higher good and/or good fortune than this. There is nothing that can compare or be as permanent or life changing as a real relationship with God.

 

The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is of little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.  A “silver tongue” brings hope when God is the maker of it. Though it takes a while and as gold is purified by fire so is silver to become “choice” silver. I am convinced that the biggest challenge that God faces with each of us is our pride. Pride, sin and I are so interwoven within our soul that our actions even fool us. We would be shocked to see ourselves as God sees us. So much time is needed to remove from us our stony heart and give us a heart that simply wants Him and wants what He wants. The best description of this change is in Ezekiel 36:26 where God is literally looking to the time of the Cross where man could be fully redeemed and the Holy Spirit abide in man, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse — you.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away — the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put — my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in — my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

Until Christ death and resurrection this could not be fulfilled, and now we have this grand privilege to chose to be united to the Lord. To have through His  grace “a tongue of choice silver” or ” lips that feed many,” or a “mouth that speaks wisdom”or ” lips that know what is acceptable.” Words can heal or wound, even kill. To be one that naturally from a refined heart brings encouragement, hope, and or healing whenever the moment arises and does it naturally and sincerely, without rehearsal is a grace I want to posess, don’t you?

Father God,

 Thank you for this study and the challenge it gives us. Yet the truth is the truth and to seek it as in seeking gold is to be becoming free-er from all that seeks to enslave us, both in our attitude towards ourselves and to others. We have been born anew to a life in and with the Spirit. Help us not to trade our freedom in for slavery; to the carnal man and societies values. Thank you and Amen

Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur