Proverbs 13:3
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Ken Wytsma and A.J. Swoboda opened their joint book with the following story:
The words we speak reflect what is in our hearts. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Your tongue speaks only what is in your heart.
Remember when you said something naughty as a child? Your mother was quick to correct you and perhaps discipline you in some way, right? But now that you are an adult, you must take seriously the admonition of the Scripture that we are to tame our tongue. “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Words matter. Scripture says “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). But how we say words is just as important as what we say. Our facial expressions, tones, and even our silence speak volumes! How do we control these reactions? We have to look at our heart, as from it come our reactions to situations in our homes, work, and relationships. If we invite God to search our hearts and help us control the words of our mouths and meditations of our hearts, he will help us. We can be God-strengthened to be surrounded by chaos but not let it control our hearts and words.
Pastor Tim Dilena shares about "alligator talk"—those times when our conversation can suddenly and flawlessly switch from godly to sexual, course joking, etc. and back again. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. There are no five steps to taming the tongue; God must do a work in our hearts.