USING WORDS WISELY

He that hath knowledge spareth his words:
And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
And he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
(Proverbs 17:27-28 – KJV)

I am one of those people who go through periods of life with the perpetual flavor of my lower digits in my mouth. You would think I would have learned after the first few times I made an idiot out of myself. Especially those times people’s feelings got hurt or somebody was irritated so much they didn’t want to get into a discussion with me for months.

And I do learn something. I apologize for my mistake. I try to explain where my human nature got the better of me, or where I misunderstood, and what I’m going to do to keep it from happening in the future. I once read a joke that seemed really appropriate: Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth. And I really make an effort … for a while.

Then there are the times something has happened that stuns me speechless. Some of my loved ones may joke, saying that is a huge improbability. But it has occurred on occasion that somebody catches me off-guard with some despicable utterance or act. And then I lie awake for several nights afterward mentally kicking myself about all the things I could and should have said.

I promise myself if a similar situation ever arises, I will be more prepared to defend the helpless person or the righteous cause. But the fact of the matter is, even having witnessed some of the worst side of humanity and knowing my treasured scripture promises things are only going to get worse as the Lord tarries, I still succumb to denial that I will ever be confronted with such brazen behavior again. And I doubt anybody can fully prepare themselves for specifics anyway.

Also, I find myself plagued by the times I’ve been very careful not to say anything until asked for advice and I am very careful to give my very best according to all the wisdom I have from research and experience, only to have it thrown back in my face. Sometimes it is immediately, sometimes later, but always the requester never puts the advice to the test or executes it improperly. Regardless, the result is these people label me one of three things: idiot, liar or lunatic.

I tell myself, Jesus warned us we would go through these things because they were done to even Him, and that the Apostles counted it a great honor to suffer similarly to our Savior. But it hurts deeply, nonetheless.

I’m sure I’m forgetting several other types of situations where communications just break down between people all the time. I guess the most important thing is to just try to keep the lines open. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” And of course, the Scriptures tell us that we can display any number of gifts, but if we do nothing with love it won’t matter.

 
And Jesus is still the most perfect example of love I know. So I can think of nobody whose words are wiser.