Thursday, January 19, 2012

Proverbs 11:9,12,13

Proverbs 11:9, 12-13 (AMP), 9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge and superior discernment shall the righteous be delivered 12 He who belittles and despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent.13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy and faithful in spirit keeps the matter hidden.

Take a moment to think . . . How many times have you been disappointed or hurt emotionally because of gossip, accusation or slander? Painful wasn’t it? And how many times do we join into a conversation were we and others may be slandering someone else? I must confess, it has been to often! You hear that little tidbit, that juicy morsel of information and your hooked. “Are you serious . . . I can’t believe it!! Tell me more.” “O and by the way . . .” Sound familiar?

The scripture is painfully clear. Gossip, loose talk, and reckless words promote quarrels, compromise relationships and injure others. Take the time to read these additional verses.

Proverbs 16:28 (AMP) A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates close friends
Proverbs 21:23 (AMP) He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.
Proverbs 25:9 (CEV) When you and someone else can’t get along, don’t gossip about it.
Proverbs 26:20 (NLT) Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

There is a lot of wisdom is what is not said and many would agree. Carlyle wrote: "Silence is more eloquent than words", a German proverb says: "Speech is silver; silence is golden." La Bruyere said: "It is a great misfortune neither to have enough wit to talk well nor enough judgment to be silent." Syrus reflected: "I regret often that I have spoken; never that I have been silent." I cannot help but  remember of the number of times that my mouth has gotten me into trouble when silence would have kept me out of it!

These last two verses sum up todays prayer for me.

Psalm 141:3 (AMP) Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

Ephesians 4:29 (AMP) Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

1 comment:

  1. The picture will lock the scripture into my mind!! Thank you for solid insights with great mental memory ques!

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