Probing Proverbs - The words of our Tongue can weigh a Ton!

Probing Proverbs 10:31-32 The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off. The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

Words can impact us in many ways; they can produce anger, sorrow, excitement, etc. I like how words can make us laugh, take these two stories written by little girls:

A little girl was once asked by her school-teacher to write a short paragraph about "Why women out number men in the world". She labored carefully over the assignment, concentrating with all her might.  This was the result: "God made Adam first.  When he had finished, he looked at him and said to himself, `Well, I think I could do better than that if I tried again.'  So then he made Eve.  And God liked Eve so much better than Adam that he has been making more women than men ever since."

A six-year old girl wrote this little essay: People are composed of girls and boys, also of men and women.  Boys are no good at all until they grow up and get married.  Men who don't get married are no good either.  Boys are an awful bother.  They want everything they see except soap.  My mother is a woman and my father is such a nice man that I think he must have been a girl when he was a boy."

This Proverb is speaking about how the heart guides what comes out of our mouth. Last Devo, I began to look at facts about the Tongue. I looked at one issue:

·      1. 30 seconds to destroy a lifetime testimony In less than a moment, your tongue can bring into question your entire life’s testimony! That should give us pause before we speak.

I want to share 3 more truths concerning our tongue.

·      2. The tongue is the window of your character!

James 3:6-12 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Notice – Scriptures point out the obvious hypocrisy of men praising God yet cursing each other with the same tongue! Our words will expose the condition of our heart.

·      3. Your tongue can reap more than it                sows!

1 Peter 3:10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

The news is full of stories where terrible things have happened; fights, injuries and even death, all started by words! We may believe that we will only cause a little pain by what we say, but very quickly things can get out of control and you will reap far more from your ill spoken words then you had anticipated.

·      4. Your tongue is the fuel!

Proverbs 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.

With your words you can either make someone feel better, like a cozy campfire or your words can start a forest fire that wreaks much destruction!

A great lesson on this danger is found in Judges 12. The men of Ephraim say some very harsh things about Jephthah and the men of Gilead.

Jud 12: 4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.”

The Tongue of Ephraim began a war, but even more interesting was that in the end, it was their tongue that betrayed them!

Jud 12:5-7  The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth.’ ” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.

Do you have people in your life that can share with you what your words show about your heart? This is why discipleship is so essential. Honest accountability is the most effective way to tame the tongue!

Probing Proverbs 10:31-32: It’s the”Cause” that causes the effect!

Probing Proverbs 10:31-32 The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off. The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

A young mother once wrote: I stayed with my parents for several days after the birth of our first child. One afternoon, I remarked to my mother that it was surprising our baby had dark hair, since both my husband and I are fair. She said, `Well, your daddy has black hair.' `But, Mama, that doesn't matter because I'm adopted.' With an embarrassed smile, she said the most wonderful words I've ever heard:  `I always forget.'"

Proverbs is filled with wisdom and warnings about the power of words. Today a lot of people ignore that and many even play with words, hoping to manipulate the truth. As people who claim to have the Truth, we need to measure our words. I know my mouth has gotten me into trouble many times. It is important that we are slow to speak so that we give ourselves time…and especially give the Holy Spirit time to guide our tongue.

This Proverb addresses the most important issue though when it comes to our words. Many people can craft words that sound good and soothing, yet their intent may be less than honest. The mind is important in helping us choose our words wisely, however, the greatest impact we can have on our words is by the content of our heart. Notice this Proverb states:

The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice…The lips of the godly speak helpful words

What we are impacts our words the most. An ungodly person can say the right things, but it will not be something that happens naturally. The “cause” is our heart, which guides the “effect” which is our words. Jesus made this clear!

Matthew 15:17–19 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

This is why the “Pharisee” can speak so cruelly, which causes many in the world confusion. They see what they think represents God, yet do not understand that “religiosity” never represents God! God offers a relationship that will express itself into a system of life beliefs. That system is called a religion, but the system is never the source of “Truth” the relationship is. When we remove the relationship out of the religion we do not have Christianity, we have “Churchianity,” which is nothing more than a dead system. Someone who is truly indwelt with the Holy Spirit would never spew words that kill or damage. The Truth, though it may hurt, is always to bring life and wholeness. So even when we have to stand on a Truth that the world hates, if they are made at us, let it be over the Truth we have stated, not the way we stated it. That is why living close to God is so important, godly living will lead to godly communication.

For example, I realize that so many in the world want to say Jesus was a great and good person, but they are offended if we say He is the only way to God. People that are nice and kind bristle at that, claiming that statement is narrow minded and judgmental. When we “yell” back in confident anger, that is not the way our Lord speaks the Truth. Jesus was tough with religious hypocrites who were trying to enslave people in a dead system. Yet, when it came to people that were blind to the Truth, but trying to understand it Jesus politely and lovingly just shared the Truth. He did not apologize for it, but He also did not try to soften it. He let the Truth speak for itself; He just shared it in a way where individuals would have to deal with the message…not the messenger.  When an individual challenges me that there has to be many ways to God, I simply share with them they have the right to believe what they want. I limit my faith to only one source of Truth, the Scriptures. They state there is only one way, if a person wants to stand where Scripture stands, then only one way is possible. I have had many people think me a fool and show anger about what the Scripture states, yet they were not angry with me for how I said it, they just disagree. Our tongue should reflect the same love, grace, mercy, and truth that the Scriptures show concerning God’s heart.  

Consider what the half brother of our Lord Jesus stated:

James 1:26–27 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

There are some important facts we need to consider about our tongue, I want to start our thoughts on this and then follow up on the next Devo.

It has been stated:  "Nothing is so often opened by mistake as the mouth." 

Proverbs 12:13 An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Important Facts About The Tongue:

·      1. 30 seconds to destroy a lifetime testimony

Many come to realize to late that a solid testimony for Christ takes a lifetime to build; it can be destroyed in 30 seconds! Obviously God is gracious and will help an individual to recover, but it is wiser to never have to go through that.

James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

James 3:9–12 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? ¹Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

Next Devo we will look at 3 more, but today ask yourself, what are your words showing about your life?