BEFORE YOU SPEAK
Proverbs 16:23-24 NKJV
23 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
And adds learning to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
There is a bit of wisdom for someone who speaks too quickly. The wisdom is to put your mind in gear before you put your mouth in motion. In other words, think before you speak. That bit of wisdom is easy to recite but more challenging to practice. One of our proverbs for today takes that bit of wisdom to another level.
“The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips.” So taking our words to another level will involve learning to speak from our heart, not just what comes to mind. And there is definitely wisdom there. For those of us who tend to be quick with a response, there are many times that speaking what comes to our mind is not a good idea. For example, someone says something that just fires you up. In anger, there are many things that come to our mind. Many ways to get even. But too often, the words that come out are not kind, or wise, or good. Ephesians 4:29 is a keynote verse for what we should be speaking. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” NASB. The word unwholesome is literally the word rotten. Other versions use corrupting. We might say toxic. Our words are to be used to build up others and give grace. The only way we’ll get there is to slow down and learn to speak from our heart instead of the first thing that comes to mind.
I used to pride myself in being able to respond to others with biting, cutting words. There is a whole lot wrong with that. Pride is not good. Pride in a negative thing is even worse. And looking to put others down with my words is just wrong. Thankfully, I got saved and my heart changed, and I have learned to slow my mouth down and let my heart have the first say. By no means am I perfect in this, but I am better than I used to be.
Verse twenty-four is one more reason to learn to speak from our hearts. Pleasant words are not toxic or rotten. They are sweet like a honeycomb. Sweet to the soul and health to the body. Maybe you have never seen words as that important, but we must renew our minds to heaven’s way of doing things. Pleasant words are good for those around us. Words that are sweet to the soul help counter the bitterness so many experience in their lives. And words of life are words that bring health. But the application of pleasant words from the heart has a twofold impact. These heartfelt words bless others, but they are also sweet to our souls and health to our bodies.
I have heard it said that if you are going to have to eat your words, better make’m sweet. We are the first ones to partake, to be affected, by our words. So let’s bring them from the heart so they build up and bless us and those who hear us.