Day 77 – 90 Days in Proverbs - Lip Service
Proverbs 12:13-14 [ESV] 13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble. 14 From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.
The book of Proverbs certainly talks a lot about lips – both the proper use and the destructive use of our lips (or mouths).
As a salesperson, I do a lot of talking, introducing myself and the company I work for, explaining what we do, giving presentations about our services, reviewing proposals over the phone and more. I guess you could say that the “fruit of my mouth” is a key factor in providing my income. I am careful to accurately outline the cost of our services and what the software program can and cannot do. If I am not clear, it can cause us to lose an opportunity or create some major problems for existing clients.
How much more important is it for us to speak clearly and accurately about the Gospel message and God’s plan of salvation? How much more important is it that in all our conversations we sew good fruit and do not transgress God’s law or His will?
Of course, God alone does the calling of His children into the flock. However, I must realize that it is possible for my words (in person or on social media) to cause undo concern and work against God’s own efforts in someone’s life – especially if my lips express inaccuracies about the Gospel. It can also be a problem to new believers and potential new believers if my lips spew out sinful things like lies or gossip, or hateful things like name-calling or ugly memes. This is not the example I should be setting.
James warns against the potential conflict between what I say about being a Christian and what my lips put out there into the world. James 3:8-12 [NKJV] 8 But no man can tame the tongue. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh [water] and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Even though James says “no man can tame the tongue” we know that God, through the Holy Spirit in us can tame our mouths and bring them into His service. Without the intervening of the Holy Spirit taming the human tongue is nearly impossible.
As Christians, our words, our lips were meant to be fruitful for God’s purposes. Let’s be like the righteous in Proverbs 12:13 whose words help us escape from any trouble. Let’s be like the righteous in verse 14 whose words sew good things that can come back to us and satisfy not only our lives with good, but also work the works of God.
Prayer – Lord God, you gave me a mouth to sew good things for my benefit and for the benefit of others. Use my lips today to work good works – to encourage, uplift, speak truth, preach the gospel and anything else that will glorify you and make good use of the mouth you gave me. In Jesus name I ask, acknowledging that He set the example me in using words to glorify you. Amen.
Your thoughts —
_____________________________________________________________________________________