Proverbs
15 Words of life
The tongue that brings healing is a tree of
life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit v4
As a
child I remember being told only to speak if what I had to say was kind, true
and necessary. The poem The Three Gates written in 1835 by Beth Day offers similar
advice
If you are tempted to reveal
A tale to you someone has told
About another, make it pass
Before you speak, three gates of gold.
These narrow gates: First, "is it true?"
Then, "is it needful?" In your mind
Give truthful answer. And the next
Is last and narrowest, "Is it kind?"
And if to reach your lips at last
It passes through these gateways three,
Then you may tell the tale, nor fear,
What result of speech may be.
Quaint
and possibly not our style but the underlying truth is that our words matter.
They matter a great deal. The book of James has much to say on this subject. ‘With the tongue we praise our Lord and
Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of
the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be’ James 3
v 9. We can find it so easy to be careless with our words. The children’s
rhyme ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me’ just
isn’t true. Most of us can remember all too clearly hurtful words said to us.
Today’s verses remind us that we have the power to use our tongue instead to
speak ‘words of life’ to one another (Proverbs 18 v21 ). We can point out each
other’s strengths rather than our weaknesses, and speak words of encouragement
healing and blessing.
Take a
moment today to choose to speak a ‘word of life’ to a friend, a spouse, a child
or a work colleague. If we aren’t with them why not phone, text, facebook or
tweet. The writer to the Proverbs tells us that is the path of wisdom.
(husband and wife)