As I was standing in front the of bathroom mirror shaving this morning, I was thinking about a conversation I was soon going to have with someone. Suddenly I could hear the Lord speak to my heart. He said, “I don’t want you to say that. I don’t want you to have that conversation. There are some things left better unspoken.” It was so simple and gave me such clear direction and I knew it was going to help me and protect me in more ways than I could foresee.
The conversation I had been thinking about was regarding a bad decision that had been made years ago that was soon to be rectified. I was going to talk with one of the person’s involved in that decision but the Lord showed me I was about to voice an unnecessary and unprofitable opinion. It might have felt good to say and it might have possibly given me a limited feeling of vindication over my ignored advice back then, it, but would not help anything else.
When I think of all the basic biblical life application lessons I have studied over the years, I’ve probably spent more time studying the importance of the words of our thoughts and mouth, than anything else. I have because in my view, it is the place where people hurt others most and get hurt by others the most. Oh if only the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” were true. It’s one of the most untrue expressions that has ever been passed along in life. Words destroy people and destructive words can do life-long damage. God tells us that learning to communicate effectively is what makes us perfect, meaning complete and mature. James 3:2 says, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”
The Lord had shown me years ago and reminded me today, that not everything you think, you should say. The opposite is true. There is much that passes through our thought life that we should never say. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life.”
The mind should be used like a filter in the same way people use a filter to purify water. The mind is to cast down or restrain wrong thinking and words and let the words that produce life and blessing come forth. This process protects us from the danger spoken of in Proverbs 29:20. “There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.”
Renee and I are the parents of four adult children, each one graduated from college, each one married, and two of them with children. They are our children but they are also adults. Of course we have thoughts and opinions about decisions they make. Most of them in our view have been fabulous, but there is always the occasional time you may not agree with a decision they’ve made. As a parent, the temptation to say something is often there. But when a decision is not destructive, or evil, or one that will hurt them or others, then we have no right to give our opinion. It’s their life. Unless they ask us what we think, it’s not our business to interfere. What has helped me work this out is how my dad and mom dealt with Renee and me. They were two people that had very strong opinions, but they never dumped them on us or interfered in our decisions or life. They prayed for us and supported us because they realized that we could figure out our life without their opinions.
Words, opinions, random thoughts – the mind is filled with them. God will help us to think through those that are appropriate to say and those that should never be spoken and maybe even cast down from our thought life. As He does and as we heed his advice , we become more and more mature and complete – “the perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” That is exactly what He did this morning. He guided me through what I should and shouldn’t say! Thank you Lord!
The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will.
(Isa. 50:4)
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