"Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in Heaven and you on earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words.
~Ecclesiastes 5:2-3~
As my daily devotionals, I decided to read all the way through Ecclesiastes, a chapter each day. Ecclesiastes consists of 12 chapters in all and is a very interesting book. Solomon is the author of the book and I love the way he puts things. Like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is written straight and to the point. I like books like this in the Bible because it helps me to know what I'm supposed to do without having to figure it out first. :) That may be just me. :) As I read chapter 5 on my fifth day of reading, these couple verses really stood out to me. Holding my tongue and thinking before I speak has been an extremely important lesson in my life. And honestly, it is a very hard lesson to learn right away.
The Tongue: can be used to speak kind words, talk about the Lord, laugh with friends, and eat yummy food. However it can also be used very dangerously. Many verses in the Bible talk about the sins that we do with our tongues. It is truly unbelievable the extreme harm that this little muscle can do!
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue." ~Proverbs 18:21
"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." ~Proverbs 12:18
"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." ~Proverbs 21:23
"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." ~James 3: 5-6 & 8
These are all very convicting verses, but they are so true! The tongue is so powerful and sometimes we (as sinners) do not realize the very great harm they can do to the people we love. It takes just one small word to hurt someone deeply. In the second verse above (Proverbs 12:18) it states what the reckless tongue does and what the wise tongue does. I love how in the Proverbs the verses show the evil and then the wise. It allows the reader to see the obvious difference between the two. So, like in Proverbs 12:18, Solomon says that, "reckless words pierce like a sword..." I like how he likens harsh words to a sword. This gives the reader the picture of being stabbed by a sword. It may be a little graphic in your mind, but it is a good picture. Think of going into battle and being stabbed by your enemy with a sharp sword. Pain would just shoot throughout your body. Reckless words are like this. Although a harsh word may not "kill" a person, it will definitely hurt them deeply and those words may haunt them for a long period of time. As a Christian we must be extremely cautious of what we say. We may even be joking with our friends and a mean word may accidentally slip out. Even though we may have meant it playfully, our friend(s) may take it seriously. I'm not saying that we can never joke or play around with our friends, but we must take extra caution. The second part of the verse says, "...but the tongue of the wise brings healing." If we are careful of what we say and are wise, our words will be sweet and healing. In other words, they will be encouraging, helpful, wise, and godly. Proverbs 16:24 says, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." I love this verse. Pleasant and sweet are two of my favorite words. If you think of honeycomb, it is very sweet. I am not a fan of honey, but I do agree that it is extremely sweet. Our words should be like that. Nothing brings so much joy to someone's heart than pleasant and sweet words. When we are having a conversation with someone, we should want to speak pleasant words to them. Whether it's an encouraging word or just a simple "God bless you", they will be blessed. Even if we are joking around with friends we can still have fun and speak kind words. A clean, funny joke will make someone laugh and smile. :)
The third verse, "whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles", is very powerful. In a way, there is a promise. If we keep our mouth and tongue from saying unpleasant things, our soul will be safe from troubles. I'm sure we have all heard the saying, "If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders." This can also make sense in what we say. What we say determines where our heart is. This may be an eye opener. If you just go over what you say, you may be surprised at where your heart may be. I like those little sayings that make me really think.
The last verse is from James and it talks about the evilness of the tongue. Our tongue is this small part of our body, however it boasts many things. James then compares the tongue to a forest fire. A forest fire is not started by a huge mass of fire, it begins small and grows. There have been occasions where fires begin from a cigarette being thrown out the window. That small cigarette ends up destroying a whole area or forest! Who knows; one small, seemingly harmless words may cause gossip, and in the end may damage a person's life. As we cannot tell the future, it is best to not say any harmful words in the event that it may lead to destruction. But most importantly it will destroy our soul.
As you read all of these reasons on why we must hold our tongue, what is the most important reason that comes to your mind? I firmly believe that the most important is that it glorifies our Lord and Savior. Our primary purpose in life is to please the Lord and to live completely for Him. This means that everything we do should be done for God and God alone. Since our purpose is to please God, then that means we are to obey His commandments, which is the Bible. These verses on the evilness of the tongue are, even though they were physically written by man, words directly from God. God spoke these words to his men of God and we are to obey them.
I challenge you, and myself, to think before you speak. It will not only be better for you but also to the people around you. Remember, you and I will both be giving an account to God, the Maker of the Universe, of every single thing we have done in our life. Let us all speak kind, pleasant, and sweet words and know that the Lord is pleased with us when we obey His commandments. What joy it is to know that you are doing something that pleases your Maker! :)
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue." ~Proverbs 18:21
"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." ~Proverbs 12:18
"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." ~Proverbs 21:23
"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." ~James 3: 5-6 & 8
These are all very convicting verses, but they are so true! The tongue is so powerful and sometimes we (as sinners) do not realize the very great harm they can do to the people we love. It takes just one small word to hurt someone deeply. In the second verse above (Proverbs 12:18) it states what the reckless tongue does and what the wise tongue does. I love how in the Proverbs the verses show the evil and then the wise. It allows the reader to see the obvious difference between the two. So, like in Proverbs 12:18, Solomon says that, "reckless words pierce like a sword..." I like how he likens harsh words to a sword. This gives the reader the picture of being stabbed by a sword. It may be a little graphic in your mind, but it is a good picture. Think of going into battle and being stabbed by your enemy with a sharp sword. Pain would just shoot throughout your body. Reckless words are like this. Although a harsh word may not "kill" a person, it will definitely hurt them deeply and those words may haunt them for a long period of time. As a Christian we must be extremely cautious of what we say. We may even be joking with our friends and a mean word may accidentally slip out. Even though we may have meant it playfully, our friend(s) may take it seriously. I'm not saying that we can never joke or play around with our friends, but we must take extra caution. The second part of the verse says, "...but the tongue of the wise brings healing." If we are careful of what we say and are wise, our words will be sweet and healing. In other words, they will be encouraging, helpful, wise, and godly. Proverbs 16:24 says, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones." I love this verse. Pleasant and sweet are two of my favorite words. If you think of honeycomb, it is very sweet. I am not a fan of honey, but I do agree that it is extremely sweet. Our words should be like that. Nothing brings so much joy to someone's heart than pleasant and sweet words. When we are having a conversation with someone, we should want to speak pleasant words to them. Whether it's an encouraging word or just a simple "God bless you", they will be blessed. Even if we are joking around with friends we can still have fun and speak kind words. A clean, funny joke will make someone laugh and smile. :)
The third verse, "whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles", is very powerful. In a way, there is a promise. If we keep our mouth and tongue from saying unpleasant things, our soul will be safe from troubles. I'm sure we have all heard the saying, "If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders." This can also make sense in what we say. What we say determines where our heart is. This may be an eye opener. If you just go over what you say, you may be surprised at where your heart may be. I like those little sayings that make me really think.
The last verse is from James and it talks about the evilness of the tongue. Our tongue is this small part of our body, however it boasts many things. James then compares the tongue to a forest fire. A forest fire is not started by a huge mass of fire, it begins small and grows. There have been occasions where fires begin from a cigarette being thrown out the window. That small cigarette ends up destroying a whole area or forest! Who knows; one small, seemingly harmless words may cause gossip, and in the end may damage a person's life. As we cannot tell the future, it is best to not say any harmful words in the event that it may lead to destruction. But most importantly it will destroy our soul.
As you read all of these reasons on why we must hold our tongue, what is the most important reason that comes to your mind? I firmly believe that the most important is that it glorifies our Lord and Savior. Our primary purpose in life is to please the Lord and to live completely for Him. This means that everything we do should be done for God and God alone. Since our purpose is to please God, then that means we are to obey His commandments, which is the Bible. These verses on the evilness of the tongue are, even though they were physically written by man, words directly from God. God spoke these words to his men of God and we are to obey them.
I challenge you, and myself, to think before you speak. It will not only be better for you but also to the people around you. Remember, you and I will both be giving an account to God, the Maker of the Universe, of every single thing we have done in our life. Let us all speak kind, pleasant, and sweet words and know that the Lord is pleased with us when we obey His commandments. What joy it is to know that you are doing something that pleases your Maker! :)
Wow! Great post Sarah, it was written very well! Thank you for sharing with us! -Shaylah
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