Today's Readings - Joshua 21-22, Luke 8:16–39, Psalm 44:15–21, Proverbs 10:19-20
Devotional
We call it "honesty." We call it "venting." We use all sorts of positive and euphemistic terms to describe the unhindered and unfiltered flow of words that come from our mouths, trying to turn into a virtue what God's Word clearly labels folly and sin.
Look at Proverbs 10:19.
When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
The abundance of words will almost always lead to sin. (That's bad news for someone like me who makes his living by talking - preaching, counseling, discussing, having meetings!) James warned us in the New Testament that only the wisest and most mature of believers is able to control the deadly poison that the human tongue contains.
The problem today, though, is that we have switched the price tags all around. Those who vomit out every angry thought and word, who tell people exactly what they think and hold nothing back - they are held out as heroes for their brutal "honesty."
But Solomon holds a very different view. He realizes that the human heart is deceitful and that it tends to feed the tongue with deceptive signals. Simply "speaking our minds" is not such a good idea if "every imagination of the human heart was only evil all the time." Sure, that was a description of the world just before the flood, but it is also a general description of human depravity. Our hearts and minds are sinful and therefore our words must not simply flow from our hearts.
No, Solomon says, there must be a filter, a restraint.
The water I drink at my home has been treated twice. It comes from a well over 200 feet under the ground in our back yard, and the man who tested it said it was some of the hardest water he has found. So, we have a water softener that treats the water, then we run it all through a filtering system before we drink it. The water tastes foul and needs to be cleansed before it is consumed.
The very same thing is true with my words. My heart is a deep well, and while the Spirit of God dwells within me producing springs of living water, there is also pollution that comes from my flesh that finds its way into that stream. Sin's pollution needs to be filtered from every word I speak before it leaves my mouth.
Solomon calls that "restraint," and it is the essence of prudence. A wise man doesn't just live by his feelings or according to his passions. He recognizes the power of sin and folly within and relies on the power of God and his Word to guide him, restrain him, and inhibit his sinful tendencies.
The problem today, though, is that we have switched the price tags all around. Those who vomit out every angry thought and word, who tell people exactly what they think and hold nothing back - they are held out as heroes for their brutal "honesty."
But Solomon holds a very different view. He realizes that the human heart is deceitful and that it tends to feed the tongue with deceptive signals. Simply "speaking our minds" is not such a good idea if "every imagination of the human heart was only evil all the time." Sure, that was a description of the world just before the flood, but it is also a general description of human depravity. Our hearts and minds are sinful and therefore our words must not simply flow from our hearts.
No, Solomon says, there must be a filter, a restraint.
The water I drink at my home has been treated twice. It comes from a well over 200 feet under the ground in our back yard, and the man who tested it said it was some of the hardest water he has found. So, we have a water softener that treats the water, then we run it all through a filtering system before we drink it. The water tastes foul and needs to be cleansed before it is consumed.
The very same thing is true with my words. My heart is a deep well, and while the Spirit of God dwells within me producing springs of living water, there is also pollution that comes from my flesh that finds its way into that stream. Sin's pollution needs to be filtered from every word I speak before it leaves my mouth.
Solomon calls that "restraint," and it is the essence of prudence. A wise man doesn't just live by his feelings or according to his passions. He recognizes the power of sin and folly within and relies on the power of God and his Word to guide him, restrain him, and inhibit his sinful tendencies.
Proverbs 29:11 tells us this:
A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back.
The sinful fool just lets it fly, fully venting his anger (and anger is vented through words, of course). But the wise man walks under the control of God, under the Spirit of God and the power of the Word. He has the restraining power to "hold it back," to restrict the power of sin and walk in victory.
Oh, Lord, restrain the sin that is in me! Do not let my foolish and sinful nature find its way through my words, but may Jesus control me in all things. May my tongue be under your control.
Think and Pray
Do you walk in self-control, or do you vent your anger, regardless of how it affects others?
Remember, we vent to God, not to others.
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