Lips of Wisdom

“Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things; For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” Proverbs 8:6-11 (‘Wisdom’ speaking)

“"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

   Reading this week, brought me to this passage of scripture.  These words form a worthy goal, especially for those who attempt to unfold the truths of scriptures to others as preachers, teachers, and pastors. We open our mouths each week with prayers that those who hear will understand and receive the truths. 

Beyond that these verses are great goals and challenges for all us.  Can we imagine a world where only truths come from our mouths?  Could it be a church that only speaks that which edifies those among us?  Could there be a business that you can completely trust all the promises made?  Have we completely abandoned a society seeking wisdom, and rather would receive a quick buck at another’s expense, or a hand out? 

While we are all seeking to be the best Christians we can, there are always areas where we fall short.  We can then turn to the Bible to find instruction on how to improve.  While we are told that the tongue is an evil that man can never tame (James 3:8), we are also warned many times that we should keep our tongue from evil.  Ephesians 4: 29 tells us to refrain any evil or corrupt communication from coming out of our mouths, and another consequence is that it grieves the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. 

What comes out of our mouths actually comes from our heart and mind.  Jesus said in Matthew 15 that out of the heart come murders, adulteries, thefts, and so forth, which then flows out of our mouth.  So to protect our words, we should also protect, or monitor our heart.  As the works of the flesh rise in our heart, we should turn to the fruits of the Spirit to push them out.  As we fill our heart with kindness, love, patience, and the like, we have less room for sin.  Scripture memorization is another way to fill our minds with spiritual things, so we do not focus on the flesh.