“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” Proverbs 31:26
Yikes. I’m pretty sure these words will not be inscribed on my tombstone! But how lovely would that be? To be known as a woman who spoke words of encouragement, spiritual insight, and oodles of knowledge ALL THE TIME. No criticizing, never a word of sarcasm (who, me?), zero spiteful remarks, and all loveliness and light. Is it too lofty a goal to speak nicely at all times?
Sometimes I have issues with my pen. They call it “writer’s block”. Sometimes I have issues with my tongue. They call that “malice”! The pen and the tongue have much in common. They both produce words, both are at the behest of the owner, and both are… powerful. But most of the time, I really wish my tongue were more pen-like.
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” (Psalm 45:1)
Oh, the luxury of the written word! The writer is able to use words that are measured, deliberate, and exact. She has the opportunity to edit, re-write, erase, even eliminate completely with the snap of a wrist or the press of a button. She doesn’t scribble nonsense or utter meaningless gibberish for others to receive—the pen’s every word can be purposeful.
Oh, the woes of the tongue! It is too quick to fill up the beauty of silence, firing off poisonous words like a wild machine gun, hitting everyone in sight. The tongue can try to back-peddle after the fact, but malicious words are impossible to take back, even if they are forgiven. Speed is one of the tongue’s greatest downfalls—it takes a nanosecond to mortally wound with this small but deadly weapon.
Would you like your tongue to be like a skillful writer’s pen? Purposeful and poised rather than a gangly gossip machine?
We would do away with harsh criticism if we considered our blurted words. We would be slow to anger if our conversation were recorded for others to see. We would spend more time edifying and less time destroying if we could re-read and re-think our tongue-lashing outbursts.
What to do, what to do…
Taming the tongue is an ongoing battle for most of us. We all know the sheer power of words, negative or positive, written or spoken, and they all spew from our minds, the overflow from our hearts:
If our hearts are filled with praise to the King, our minds full of His goodness and grace, then our words will be filled with love and truth, emulating the graceful flow of ink from the most learned writer’s quill.
Just like the Proverbs Lady, wielding wisdom and faithful instruction. With words fit for The King…
***This excerpt is taken from my new e-book DIAMOND DEVOS 31, which is due to release in the next week or so!
It will be FREE to all my subscribers… be sure to sign up now at the very bottom of this page!***
Linking up with some fabulous encouragers! Check them out:
