Daily Bread_July 16, 2013

Title: How Are You Doing with Controlling Your Tongue?

Text:

Proverbs 15:1 (ESV)
¹ A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Observation:

Yesterday I read this verse in my Daily Reading Plan of Reading Through the Psalms & Proverbs. This verse is lingering with me, and one of my Facebook friends posted a comment about it to my Facebook page last night.

This friend said this about this verse, "I/we need to always keep our tongues in check, otherwise the consequences can be quite damaging".

I was going to face a blank page as I sat down to write this morning, but that comment got me to thinking about that verse again. Here is what I discovered.

Notice what the next verse says:

Proverbs 15:2 (ESV)
² The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

We show the contents of our heart and our character when we open our mouth. We show for all within the sound of our voice whether we are wise or foolish. The words from the wise accomplish much, but the words of the foolish accomplish nothing.

The wise person knows how to respond to anger by giving a soft and gentle answer. The wise person also knows how to control anger.

Proverbs 15:18 (ESV)
¹⁸ A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

The source of what comes out of our mouth is our heart. Do you need a heart examination? The Lord is the only one who can fix our hearts and our tongue.

Matthew 12:35 (NKJV)
³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

Prayer:

Father God, Sovereign Lord, my dear Father, I pray that in these trying times; these last days, that You will grant Your people the grace gift of controlling our tongues. Father God, change our hearts, and our tongues. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

 

--

Acts 6:4 (KJV)
⁴ But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/