The power of words

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Proverbs 16-18; Psalm 3

TO CHEW ON: “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24 NLT*

Are you a person of many or few words?  Have your words ever you into trouble? Or perhaps your words helped get you out of trouble.

The three chapters of Proverbs in today’s reading deal with many subjects. A prominent one is the role of the tongue in everyday life. What wisdom can we learn about speech from these chapters?

• Our words reflect our thoughts and reveal who we really are.

“The wise are known for their understanding” - Proverbs 16:21.

“From a wise mind comes wise speech” - Proverbs 16:23.

“Anyone who loves to quarrel loves to sin…” - Proverbs 17:19.

“A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.
Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut they seem intelligent” - Proverbs 17:27,28

“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinion” - Proverbs 18:2.

“Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish” - Proverbs 18:13.

• Our words have power for good and bad.

“… pleasant words are persuasive… the words of the wise are persuasive” - Proverbs 16:21,23.

“Scoundrels create trouble; their words are a destructive blaze” - Proverbs 16:27.

“A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends” - Proverbs 16:28.

“Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart” - Proverbs 18:8.

“The first to speak in court sounds right—until the cross-examination begins” - Proverbs 18:17.

• Our speech has consequences.

“The king is pleased with words from righteous lips; he loves those who speak honestly” - Proverbs 16:13.

“Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortunes of others will be punished” - Proverbs 17:5.

“The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble” - Proverbs 17:20.

“Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips” - Proverbs 18:6,7.

“Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars” - Proverbs 18:10.

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences” - Proverbs 18:21.

• Rulers and those in authority have added responsibility to speak carefully.

“The king speaks with divine wisdom; he must never judge unfairly” - Proverbs 16:10.

“Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler” - Proverbs 17:7.

• Wise speech makes life better.

“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy to the body” - Proverbs 16:24.

“Wise words are like deep waters; wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook” - Proverbs 18:4.

“Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction” - Proverbs 18:20.

Let's watch our words today!




PRAYER: Dear Father, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” - Psalm 19:14.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 3


*I used the New Living Translation [NLT] today. I like the way it simplifies ideas that are sometimes hard to get in the NKJV. The verses that appear on the website when you hover over the Bible reference reference quote the NKJV.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

A life to aspire to

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Thessalonians 3:6-4:12

TO CHEW ON: “… aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Who, these days, does that—“aspire(s) to lead a quiet life” or, as the Amplified puts it: “Make it your ambition … to live quietly…”? It’s far more common to want to be noticed, to get attention with lots of “LIKES” on social media, for example, or to achieve the goal of all goals and go viral.

Yet to me, perhaps to you too, there is something attractive and alluring about these instructions on how to live:

• “lead a quiet life”

- “Lead a quiet life” brings to mind verses like “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” - Isaiah 30:15.

- Peter’s instructions on how to be a beautiful-from-the-inside woman include: “… a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” - 1 Peter 3:4.

- However, many Bible references to quietness also harbor within them an aspect of tension—the tension of waiting for something to happen: “It is good that one should hope and wait quietly / For the salvation of the LORD” - Lamentations 3:26.
“Truly my soul silently waits for God; / From Him comes my salvation” Psalm 62:1.

• “mind your own business”

This advice is, at some level telling the people not to gossip and be busybodies. This must have been a problem in Thessalonica because Paul addressed it in 2 Thessalonians 3:11,12. I wonder how Paul would have viewed Facebook!

• “work with your own hands”

From crocheting a shawl to building a house I’m sure most of us have experienced the satisfaction of a project we’ve completed with our own hands. Physical work is something the Bible endorses from cover to cover (Genesis 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:8).

These three bits of good-life advice are not only to make the readers’ lives better, but to serve as an example of a good and godly life to pre-believers - 1 Thessalonians 4:12.

In this time when we can be barraged with communication, information and noise from morning to night, doesn’t this lifestyle sound like a refreshing option?


PRAYER: Dear Father, at the root of this lifestyle of quietness, self-control, and work is confidence in You and Your ability to work things out in my life without my interference. Please help me to trust you so implicitly that quietness becomes my default setting. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.