11-18-2021

 Good Morning All!

    Proverbs 17: 28; “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”

    Have you ever put your foot in your mouth? Have you ever asked a lady when her baby was due, and she tells you “I’m not pregnant”? Or maybe asked if those two gals are his granddaughters and he tells you “this one is my wife”?  Yikes!!  Have you ever expressed an opinion about someone else’s choice of clothes or vehicles or whatever and they are standing behind you? Where is that hole that we want to crawl in?

    Then instead of simply admitting that the mouth was engaged when the brain was not and apologize; we go to elaborate efforts to cover it. Things like; “I knew you were there all the time; I was just teasing.”  We speak loudly, have over exaggerated hand gestures, and tend to laugh a little too loud and a little too long. We are embarrassed and a severe case of “foot-us in mouth-us” disease kicks in. We did not mean to hurt anyone; we simply did not think all the way through what we were saying. Yet this painfully embarrassing event is not nearly as bad as when those cruel comments are said and meant to harm.

    Those cruel and degrading epithets, those hateful and derisive comments and those dismissive and cutting remarks cause much pain. Pain for the recipient; but also, a reduction in the character of the person who speaks them.  We all know people who always have a cruel or crude or hateful comment about another person; do we really think they do not make some similar comment about us when we are not around? Listening to someone who is always dismissive and derisive tends to drain you and drive you away unless you are one of those who thrive on it. These folks think that they are smart and witty but in fact most people really see them as fools. We need to be careful not to be one of these fools.

    It is especially true with today’s technology; we must really be careful and think three and four times before we send that email or tweet or post that “thing” on Facebook.  There was a time when cruel or unflattering items had a limited range of being heard and a limited life span. Now they exist forever.

    We need to remember that how the Eighth Commandment (Thou shall not bear false witness) works and this is how all the Commandments work as well. The Commandments have a negative (Thou shalt not) and a positive (Thou should do this) component. They also have an exchange quality; I treat you this way and you will treat me this way as well. So as we look at this Commandment, I would not speak negatively about you and in fact I will try and put the best spin (construction) on your actions and statements and I can expect that you, as my Christian brother or sister, will do the same.  It is when we refuse to follow these guides that we become the fool that everyone knows.

Dear Father in heaven, the tongue causes us more problems and pain that almost any other part of the body. Give us the wisdom and courage to control our tongue and to speak well of our neighbors. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret