The Tongue
Proverbs 15:1, 2, 4, 7, 23,
28 ESV
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh
word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the
mouths of fools pour out folly.
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness
in it breaks the spirit.
The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the
hearts of fools.
To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and a word
in season, how good it is!
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth
of the wicked pours out evil things.
As a general rule, I do
believe that a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,
yet this is not always the case.
For, we will be hated and
persecuted, as believers in Jesus Christ, merely for what we stand for, and
merely because we share the truth of the gospel of Jesus. It may not matter how
gentle our answers are, for if the other people don’t like the message, it will
not necessarily turn away their wrath. In fact, their wrath may even be
stronger because we said what we said with such gentleness.
The tongue of the wise does
praise knowledge, but not head knowledge only; not just books smart. The kind of
knowledge that the wise speak well of is the kind that leads to action - the
kind of action that is helpful, beneficial, wise, discerning, productive (in a
good way), and that is full of mercy and good fruit. Head knowledge only can
lead to pride. What we need is heart knowledge, which applies the good that we
know to our lives.
If we have perverse tongues,
we are obstinate, stubborn, rebellious, and wicked in our hearts and speech,
for we have turned away from what is right to follow after what is wrong
(corrupt, vile). It is good to stand strong on some things, such as our faith
in Jesus Christ, but it is not good to be headstrong about following the ways
of this world and of our sinful flesh.
If we want the right kinds of
things to come out of our tongues, we have to have the right attitudes,
thoughts, and feelings instilled in our hearts. For, out of our hearts our
mouths speak.
So, daily we need to put off
the wrong attitudes and thoughts and desires, and we need to put on Christ and
his Word and his righteousness and holiness. And, we need to pray for the right
words to say to people, so that we don’t respond in the flesh, but in the
Spirit. Then, what we say will be proper, suitable and helpful instead of
harmful. It takes much spiritual discipline, too, to control the tongue.
The Unwise vs. The Wise
Proverbs 15:18, 19, 21, 24,
31, 33 ESV
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who
is slow to anger quiets contention.
The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,
but the path
of the upright is a level highway.
Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,
but a man of
understanding walks straight ahead.
The path of life leads upward for the prudent,
that he may
turn away from Sheol beneath.
The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
will dwell
among the wise.
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility
comes before honor.
Anger is a natural human
emotion. We can feel anger for many different reasons.
The Bible says that in our
anger we should not sin, so the emotion of anger, in and of itself, is not
sinful, but it may come from sin in our hearts or it may produce sinful
responses (reactions and actions).
Anger can be a good thing to
show us what is in our hearts or to drive us to some kind of action. It is a
great motivator, or it can be. But, it can also be very destructive.
Also, there is such a thing
as righteous anger, which is the kind of anger God has with regard to the
things which he hates. We can be angry about abuse, lies, deceit, the murdering
of innocents, and injustice, etc., but we must use that anger as a motivator to
do what is right, not what is wrong.
We, too, are not to be people
who are lazy, slothful, and selfish, just thinking about how we can entertain
ourselves or bring ourselves pleasure. We are to be people who love God and our
fellow humans and who follow our Lord and his ways, who fill the roles he has
for us, and who care about other people and their needs.
We should not be people who
follow our own way of thinking, doing what we want, to please ourselves, without
concern as to whether or not what we do is harmful to others and to ourselves.
We should be people who follow the way of holiness, instead. And, we should be
those who honor, value, esteem and respect our Lord by heeding his counsel and
doing what he says to do.
Better Is…
Proverbs 15:13, 16, 17 ESV
A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by
sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord
than great
treasure and trouble with it.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is
than a
fattened ox and hatred with it.
We are glad of heart either
when things are going well for us or when we are following in the ways of the
Lord, and our trust and our hope is in Him.
But, we are sorrowful in
heart, oftentimes, when we go through times of trial, tribulation and testing,
which try our faith, or when we are not following the Lord and our consciences
are bothering us.
Yet, it is possible to go
through hard times, and cry them out to the Lord in our misery, and then to
rest in the Lord, and to be refreshed in spirit, so that we do have glad
hearts. We can experience the joy of the Lord even in some of the most trying
of times when we learn to rest in Him.
Having money and things may
bring some temporal gladness, as opposed to struggling to know how we are going
to eat and pay bills each month. But, money and the things of this world don’t
satisfy the deep longings of our souls. In fact, sometimes having much can lead
to a path of destruction.
If we walk in the fear of the
Lord, giving him honor and glory, doing what he says to do, we can be satisfied
even with very little. In fact, when we realize we are dependent on him for
everything, it can draw us even closer in our walks with Christ and in His
Word.
Some people measure success
by possessions and wealth, etc. But, we can have all of this, and have the
appearance that all is well, when we may be going through hard times in other
ways. We may live in abusive environments, lacking in love, and so all the “things”
that we have do not bring joy to our hearts. More is not necessarily better. What
is better is to live where we are loved by others, even if we have little.
The Lord
Proverbs 15:3, 8, 9, 10, 11,
29 ESV
The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping
watch on the evil and the good.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the
Lord,
but the
prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but he loves
him who pursues righteousness.
There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the
way;
whoever
hates reproof will die.
Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord;
how much
more the hearts of the children of man!
The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears
the prayer of the righteous.
Our God is completely
sovereign and in control over all things. He is not surprised by anything which
is going on in our lives, nor is he lacking in power to do something about it.
But his ways and his thoughts are not like our human ways and thinking. He has
reasons for the things he allows in our lives and purposes for his seeming
slowness in answering our prayers, too.
The ways of the wicked have
not escaped God’s notice. He is just very patient and slow to anger, not
willing that anyone should die in their sins, but that all people would turn
away from their sins and have eternal life with God. He allows evil in this
world because he allows us to exist, and sometimes he uses even evil for his
good purposes in people’s lives.
The Lord is not impressed
with what we, as humans, decide we will give to God or do for God. What he
desires is our lives dead to sin living to righteousness, all in the power and
working of God’s Spirit living within us. He wants us devoted to him, following
his lead, doing what he says. He wants us dead to the world of sin, too,
separated from the world of sin, and separate unto him and to his service.
The Lord disciplines,
chastises and rebukes those who he loves. But, he does this so that we might share
in his holiness, becoming like him in his death, and that we might bear fruit
for his kingdom in keeping with repentance.
But, there is also severe
discipline (judgment) that God has in mind for those who forsake the ways of
the Lord, and who do evil, and who follow the ways of the flesh, instead of the
ways of the Spirit. They will die in their sins. So, if that is where you are,
repent of your sins today, and find your chains to sin broken, and find freedom
in Christ to now walk in holiness, instead.
Power Of The Cross
Shelly Johnson
Once in darkness now in light
Once blind now you see
Once a sinner now a saint
Once bound now free.
That's the power of the cross
See the chains fall…
Sunday, June 3, 2018, 6:30
a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these words of wisdom from the Proverbs. May we
all take them to heart and apply these truths to our daily lives.
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