Baptism at Singles Retreat - 147 Baptized!!!

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Thursday, October 2, 2014

What do your words show you about your heart?

Probing Proverbs 11:9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

It amazes me how many times in Scripture we are cautioned about the power of words! I find it extremely interesting in light of the “social media” we live in today. In a millisecond people around the globe can know what your thinking or what you said. True there are advantageous to that…but I fear many do not weigh the down side.

This Proverb puts before us that danger, it would be wise for us to consider it.

How can the words of a godless man “destroy” someone? It should be noted that there is an adjective used to describe the kind of person speaking the words, “godless.” So we already know that this is an individual that is living outside the influence of God.

So, beginning at the most innocent, when a person speaks “unmeasured” words, which means partial truth, or words with no context, a lot of damage, can be done. This is what we do when we pass on hearsay, not understanding all the circumstances. The news in my country does this all the time. In their so-called “zeal” for people to know, they will print names of individual’s accused of crimes before they have a chance at a trial! Why can’t they print the fact of the crime but wait for the trial to be complete before any names are given. If that person is found innocent they can report that and the person that was accused is still left as an anonymous person, so they can resume a normal life.  If the person is guilty, print that with the name so the criminal will face the consequences of his crime. When you use any “buzz” word like; racist, sex offender, etc, that person is labeled for life, even if they were totally innocent. What a terrible thing to do to someone.

A more devious form of communication is one that is “agenda” driven. People do not matter in this kind of communication, only the agenda. So individuals will “leak” information to help their goal, even if it destroys someone, or they will cease talking about the subject and move to personal attacks against the individuals that stand in the way of their goal.

Of course, sadly, there are the times when someone just wants to hurt someone, so truth does not matter. The gossip, the stories, the skewed facts, and the false witnesses are all part of one goal, to hurt their target.

First, all should know that none of these actions will be overlooked when it comes time to be accountable:

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

Romans 14:10–12 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Each person will answer for himself, and himself alone. I don’t know about you, but that frightens me, because as a sinner I have allowed improper communication at times to come out of me. All it takes is a moment of living away from God's influence for my mouth to speak forth something I will regret! This admonition helps me to be more careful.

More importantly is for us to learn from this Proverb the direction to go so we avoid speaking in a way that damages others. Again there is an adjective describing this person, “righteous.” So if we stay close to God, then we have access to “knowledge" that will guide our words. The word used here is interesting: 

Knowledge - דַּעַת (daʿat)  This root, occurring a total of 944 times, is used in every stem and expresses a multitude of shades of knowledge gained by the senses. Its closest synonyms are bîn “to discern” and nākar “to recognize.” In certain contexts it means, “to distinguish.”[1]

When we remain close to the Lord, He brings us the ability to measure our words. When I can discern a situation, or recognize the real problem, I will be better equipped to know what to say, or if I should say anything at all. More than once in my life the Scriptures or the prompting of the Holy Spirit has led me to adjust what I was going to say. Each time I have been very thankful for that knowledge.

Notice though, the path to have knowledge or not begins in the heart, staying close to God. If we are away, that knowledge will elude us!  

Where are you...close or away? 







[1] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (366). Chicago: Moody Press.