How's the Tongue?

“The Lord tests hearts”. I am so glad He does that, because that is a job far too hard for someone like myself with so many shortcomings. This chapter (17) of Proverbs is a great place for that tone to be set, God testing and knowing hearts. So much of what follows seems harsh, troubling, but very real, and I am thankful we have a holy and just God to sort it all out.

Spoken of are those with “destructive tongues”, and “listeners to wicked lips”. The writer speaks of the comparison between excellent speech and lying lips. When speech and communication is handled poorly, is threatens intimate friendships (v.9). And when strife ensues, it is wisely the best option to simply “abandon the quarrel”. Notice that this does not necessarily mean that the situation is made “all better”, it simply states to not let strife build. It is so much better to walk away from the quarrel, to simply quit arguing a point that will go nowhere. No wonder this passage is mixed in with rebuking those who understand versus dealing with what God here in a negative way calls “fools”.

One does not have to look far to see how society today justifies that which is wicked, and condemns that which is righteous. So it is only fitting that we not only need friends, but also we need brothers (and sisters). We need those who will stand beside us in adversity, not simply hang in there with us when life is good. Show me that person who can experience the worst times with you, and build you up, and you have found a brother/sister, a true relative, in the biblical sense of the word.

We all need that help, because evil is all around, you can see it in those who “love transgression”, who have a “crooked mind”, and who use “perverse language”. Besides our closest allies, we have something else on our side, a “joyful heart”. This is “good medicine”, readily available to us believers to ward off what could easily throw us off a godly walk.

Want to find knowledge? Look for one who can restrain words. Want to seek understanding? You’ll find it in a “cool spirit”.

I wonder what James had to say on these topics. In chapter 3, he devotes much time to the potential of the tongue. Small, destructive, restless evil, full of poison. Cheerful, huh?

It is actually repugnant to think that we use this body part to bless God and His name, and then turn around and use it to curse men, to defile people. Great chapter of James, he was pretty intent on getting people to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Doers, not just hearers, as he wrote earlier. James felt strongly that brothers and sisters in Christ should watch out for one another, that the cause of Christ was far more important than letting that cause be destroyed by the poor testimony of believers who could not control their thoughts, actions, and here, tongues.

We must continue to seek wisdom from above, remember how we achieve that wisdom? By developing and maintaining a healthy fear of the Lord.

SO WHAT…?

So, I must be careful in what I say and how I say it as I continue to work for Him. This includes rebuke and commendation of others, as described biblically.

So, I need to continually check my fear of the Lord? Just how much do I revere and respect Him, and how does that show?

So, though not in these specific passages, forgiveness toward those who have expressed the evils described in these passages is necessary and vital to one’s spiritual health, all part of wise living.