Proverbs Inspired Message for Today.

I read somewhere that the average person speaks between five thousand and twenty thousand words a day. Based on these statistics, Diane might tell you that I am an above-average person.

I talk, a lot, I tell stories, a lot, and I know jokes, a lot of them. I remember facts and figures, trivia, a lot of it. I can't remember names sometimes. The point is since I was a youngster I have been told I have a dump truck brain. Most of what is in there will come out of my mouth. I admit that, but, and this but is important, I try not to say things that hurt. I may bore folks, I may confuse them, and I make them laugh sometimes, but I try not to say anything that damages someone's spirit.

Proverbs and other books in the Bible, including the book of James, keep telling us that the tongue is a weapon, it can lash people and whip their hearts, leaving scars. James wrote a whole chapter dealing with this. He said, "the tongue no man can tame, the tongue, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison." So true, especially if you watch just about any News on TV. Think what life would be like if people just spoke the truth and did it with little or no vitriol powering it. Vitriol, what a word to describe the words some folks use.

1. Cruel and bitter criticism.

"her mother's sudden gush of fury and vitriol"

2. Archaic•Literary

sulfuric acid speech, cruel and bitter.

Have you ever been spoken to like that? I know someone who spoke to others with acid on his tongue. He was a friend at first. I hired him to work in a company division I managed. Then I discovered he had a very bad mouth, a schemer as it turned out. I left the company for a better offer, he took over the division, it folded and he went to work for a bank as a loan officer. He did not treat all his customers very well I guess, because one day a man left his office mad, came back later, went back to the office, and shot him dead.

We hear about things like this, arguments in a family that escalate, and a war of words is the phrase that comes to mind. What would life be like if people didn't gossip, didn't backbite, and didn't provoke others with their words?

Let us take this idea, this question, to the folks who really should know better. What would it be like, how much more power would they have if churches and Christians stuck to the gospel more and repeated "nonsensical heresy" less? More Jesus, less name it and claim it, more Jesus will help you now, instead of the signs saying he is returning in three months if you get my meaning.

Our goal should be to use words that promote life and maybe give it a laugh now and then, but we should not try to tear anyone down. Before we speak, think, or better yet, pray. There is a verse I, we, need to remember:

James 1:19 "Let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak".

Yea, I need to work on that one.

Proverbs 16: 18-33

18 Pride goes before destruction,

a haughty spirit before a fall.

19 Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed

then to share plunder with the proud.

20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,

and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

21 The wise in heart are called discerning,

and gracious words promote instruction.

22 Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,

but folly brings punishment to fools.

23 The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,

and their lips promote instruction.

24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,

sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

25 There is a way that appears to be right,

but in the end, it leads to death.

26 The appetite of laborers works for them;

their hunger drives them on.

27 A scoundrel plots evil,

and on their lips, it is like a scorching fire.

28 A perverse person stirs up conflict,

and gossip separates close friends.

29 A violent person entices their neighbor

and leads them down a path that is not good.

30 Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity;

whoever purses their lips is bent on evil.

31 Gray hair is a crown of splendor;

it is attained in the way of righteousness.

32 Better a patient person than a warrior,

one with self-control than one who takes a city.

33 The lot is cast into the lap,

but its every decision is from the Lord.