Day 87 – 90 Days in Proverbs - Protection
Proverbs 14:3 [NIV] A fool's mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.
Have you ever wished for just the right words to encourage a friend, to keep an adult child from making a bad decision, to get yourself out of trouble when you were young or to win an argument? Yeah, me too.
Jesus talks about giving His Disciples the precise words to speak when being brought before the authorities for preaching the Gospel. Luke 12:11-12 [NKJV] 11 "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
But, other than that, we need to rely on the wisdom He makes available to us via His Word and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide us with the right words to say.
I believe the primary way that the words of the wise protect them is by teaching us what to refrain from saying or when we should just keep our mouths shut. Obviously, we should refrain from “lashing out with pride” as fools do, according to today’s Proverb.
However, the Bible provides us with many other things to refrain from saying. Paul presents at least a partial list in 2 Corinthians 12:20 [NLT] 20 For I am afraid that when I come I won't like what I find, and you won't like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.
Quarrelling, slander and gossip are ways that a fools might uses her lips. But any one of us can be tempted to participate in quarrelling, slander or gossip if we are not vigilant.
Further, things like jealously and anger can lead us to use our lips for less than God-glorifying purposes.
Sometimes, I need protection from my words, even as I strive to be protected by them as Proverbs 14:3 suggests. Words can wound and, if we are not careful, dear sisters, we will be the victims of the wounds of our own words. If we are not careful, we will say things that wound others and may destroy a relationship.
We also have to think about the words we say about ourselves– the so-called “self-talk” that we let run through our minds. Yes, we need to understand that without God we are wretched – spiritually poor, blind and naked, as scripture tells us. But Jesus has already lifted us out of that state when He died for us. God’s mercy and forgiveness, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit changes all that. We become daughters of the King and heirs to the Kingdom along with Jesus. Our self-talk should be about how much God loves us, the great sacrifice that Jesus made because He loves us and the fact that we grow ever more like them through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, as Philippians 4:13 tells us. That includes learning to stop words of gossip and quarrelling, as well as changing that self-talk in our heads. The work of Holy Spirit is changing our lives for the better and our words should reflect that.
Jesus warned us that our words will not be taken lightly. Matthew 12:36-37 [ESV] 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Gulp. May God help my lips to protect me from saying the things I shouldn’t say!
Prayer – Loving Father God, Our prayer today is simply the reciting of Psalm 19:14 [ESV] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Your thoughts —
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