WEBVTT

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know for me there's a lot of scriptures that

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i've read and i comprehend but man even after

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knowing them for years i still find some of them

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hard to to do i still find myself failing at

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them a lot a lot more than i'd care to admit

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i wish i could stand up here and say that i've

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i've mastered some of these commands but i hadn't

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and uh and maybe i will i don't know maybe maybe

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y 'all have mastered some of these things but

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every it seems like every time that i read through

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a scripture It's like, golly, I still got some

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work to do in that area. And maybe I do good

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for a season, but I think maybe that's why it's

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good for us to read scriptures that we've read

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before. I'm not implying that all of you are

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as slow as me. Some of you may be far better.

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But if you are like me, then it probably is good

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to read through the scriptures. Man, it just

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constantly reminds me that I got a long way to

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go, that there are some areas in my life where

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I'm still weak, and I still need to be reminded

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that, hey, you need to pay attention to some

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things. And this topic we see here in this proverb,

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and really throughout the proverbs, is a good

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reminder to me. And I fail at doing what it says

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more times than I want to. But man, this passage

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and passages like it, they come back to my mind

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a lot. So we're going to look at Proverbs chapter

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15 tonight, just a few of these verses. We'll

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start in verse 1, but let's pray and then we

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will get started. Dear Lord, we thank you for

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your good word and I pray that we would hear

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them and that you'd help us to do what they say,

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dear Lord. Maybe there are some things in your

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word that are easy for us and we master those

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things, but maybe there are other things that

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we struggle with and we don't want to struggle

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and we try and then some days we just fail. And

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I pray, God, that your word would just strengthen

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us and be a reminder to us and that you would

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just kind of guide us along in a way to help

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us to be able to grow in areas that we do fail

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and that we need to improve. that your word would

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stick with us and help us to grow in you. And

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I pray that you just give us a good night tonight.

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In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. Proverbs chapter

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15, verse 1. It says, A gentle answer turns away

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anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. Now that

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is a good scripture. That is a good scripture

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for us to think about and to remember because

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it will happen at some point in your life. It

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has happened before and it will happen again

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where you're going to be in kind of a heated

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situation with somebody. It just happens. Maybe

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you argue with your spouse. You get in a disagreement.

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You're stressed. You're worried. Maybe it's a

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coworker. Maybe it's somebody at the supermarket.

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Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's a family member.

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There's going to be a time where there's going

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to be a disagreement or there's going to be something

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that comes up or you did something or they did

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something. And people are going to be at their

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boiling point. And it's really easy when we get

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to that point to just want to... Open our mouth

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and just let the words flow. And we've got no

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shortage of them. When we get in those situations,

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when we are fed up or when we are angry or when

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we are mad and we just get so mad at people,

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even people we love, not people we hate, even

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people we really love, and we just let it flow.

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We open our mouth and we just let the harsh words

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just come out. And what does that do? It usually

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just... causes the whole situation to explode.

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And sometimes it spills over into other people.

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And then other people begin to argue. And then

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a whole crowd begins to argue. And then everybody's

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fussing and feuding and there's rioting in the

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streets. We've seen it. We've seen this type

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of behavior. We've probably, sad to admit, been

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one who's just kind of opened our mouth and let

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it rip. Maybe we were on the giving end of it.

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Maybe we were on the receiving end of it. Maybe

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we've been part of a group at odds. Maybe we've

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seen groups on TV that are at odds. But this

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is something that we all are familiar with in

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some way. And the harsh word is what stirs up

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wrath. And so when you get to that point and

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you just let those harsh words flow, most of

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the time it does not. make the situation better.

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I would say it never makes the situation better.

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It only escalates the situation. But what is

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the solution? What is the solution? When we feel

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ourselves and we're at that point where we're

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about to break, we have a choice to make. And

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that's why it's good for us to read scriptures

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like this. So this will be on our mind and in

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our heart. Okay, God, here's what your word says.

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If I'm harsh, It's going to stir up wrath. But

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if I give a gentle answer, it's going to turn

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away anger. It's going to calm things down. Now

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there's probably been times in your life where

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you had something on the tip of your tongue and

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in your mind and in your heart you thought to

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yourself, I shouldn't say this. But... You didn't

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think about it long enough because you just had

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to let it out. You just had to say it. And it

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is so hard to keep our mouth shut. We just have

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to blurt it out. And we know we shouldn't. And

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if we have to ask ourselves, should I say this

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or not? Well, you've already answered the question.

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The answer is no, you should not say it. If you're

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not sure, you shouldn't. But too many times in

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the moment in our emotions, we just, we give

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in. And we give that harsh word and it makes

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things worse. But how many situations in your

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life could you have made better by giving a gentle

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answer? Now somebody might come at you and they

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may be full force. I'm talking about tearing

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you up. And it is so hard to be calm and to not

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say anything. But that's... What's going to help

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the situation get better? That's what the Lord

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wants us to do. And so maybe that's a good prayer

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for us. Maybe you don't struggle with this at

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all. Praise the Lord if you don't. Maybe you

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struggle with it mightily. Maybe you don't ever

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give a gentle answer. Maybe you are just, bam,

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harshness to the core. Maybe this is a good verse

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for us to settle on. Because in almost every

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situation, if somebody comes at you and they're

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getting on you, Your response will either make

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things better or worse. And if you answer with

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a gentle answer and with calmness and are not

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confrontational, chances are that situation is

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probably going to die pretty quick. But if you

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answer with a harsh word, that situation is probably

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going to get worse and worse and worse and worse.

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So maybe we can think back in our life at times

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that, man, if I would have just kept my mouth

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shut, Or if I would have just said something

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that was a little more gentle than what I said,

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man, maybe I could have resolved some conflicts.

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Maybe there are some conflicts and some barriers

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between you and someone else tonight that's a

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result of a harsh word. Well, we can't take our

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words back, but maybe this scripture is a good

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reminder for us tonight that maybe we need to

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reconcile with some folks that we spoke a harsh

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word to. We can't take back our harsh word of

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the past, but maybe there's a gentle word that

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we can bring forth to somebody that we've wronged

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in the past. Say, you know what? I was harsh

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on what I said, and I was wrong on what I said.

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Maybe if we approach them with some gentleness

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and love, maybe that changes hearts. It changes

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attitudes. It helps folks to reconcile with each

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other. Verse 2. The tongue of the wise makes

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knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools

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blurts out foolishness. That's a good verse to

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think about right there. Do the words that come

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out of your mouth, are they attractive to people?

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Do the words that come out of your mouth attract

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people to God and to the Word of God? Or are

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you just running your mouth with a bunch of foolishness,

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just saying a lot of words? Well, that's a good

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thing for us to think about. Now, there's plenty

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of verses that talk about this very idea throughout

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the Proverbs about the fool making his voice

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known. And maybe we do good at being quiet sometimes.

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Maybe we don't at other times. As the old saying

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goes, I think Ernest quoted it in Sunday school

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this week or last week. I can remain silent and

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people may think I'm a fool or I can open my

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mouth and leave no doubt. So a lot of times we

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probably would be better off just saying very

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little or maybe saying nothing at all. But perhaps

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sometimes we say words that really don't amount

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to a hill of beans. But what does the proverb

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say? The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive.

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So the knowledge that we have of God, the knowledge

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that we have of God's Word, do we make it attractive?

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And the way that we talk with people and communicate

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with people, when we open our mouth and words

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come out, are we just rambling like a bunch of

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fools? Or are we doing something that brings

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glory to God? That's going to make that knowledge

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of Scripture and that knowledge of Jesus Christ

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and the way that we speak to people, does it

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make that attractive to them? Do our words attract

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people to listen to what we have to say? Not

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for us. So what we say will be something that

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brings glory to God. Are the words that come

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out of our mouth unattractive and a turn off?

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Are they harsh? I don't know. That's something

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that we all have to look at in our life. We have

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to examine our heart. We have to ask the Lord

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to help us. And help us to watch the words that

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come out of our mouth. To know when to speak

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and when not to speak. To know what to say and

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what not to say. To know whether to say a little

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or say a lot. I suspect probably almost always

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saying a little is the better option. Maybe there

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are occasions that speaking up with more words

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is better, but I think generally speaking, a

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few words is probably the best way to go. Verse

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4. The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but

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a devious tongue breaks the spirit. Well, that's

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a good word. Our tongue is a powerful thing.

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We see that from Scripture. We see that from

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the book of James and the New Testament. Man,

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our tongue, it can do some stuff. The words that

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come out of your mouth, they have power for good

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or for bad, for positive or for negative. They

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are... They are powerful words. And it says the

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tongue that heals is a tree of life. Is your

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tongue a tongue that heals? Or is your tongue

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a tongue that harms? Do you bring encouragement

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and compassion and love with the words that you

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speak? If so, that's healing to people in some

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way. It's healing to you. It makes you feel better.

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If you go around spouting negative words and

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bad words and angry words and harsh words, then

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one, it ain't going to make those who are around

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you feel any better. And two, it ain't going

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to make you feel good. It's going to affect you

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too. It says in the second part of the verse,

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but a devious tongue or a perverse tongue, maybe

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in some of your translations, breaks the spirit.

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That's a tongue that just wants to argue and

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feud and is proud. and only out for himself,

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and the things that that tongue says isn't really

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concerned about others, but just the person who's

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saying those words. And it says that the devious

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tongue breaks the spirit. I think that's true

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both of the speaker and of the hearer. I think

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that when we speak in that way, I think it affects

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us. I think that that... It makes us feel bad

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when our tongue's just running rampant and saying

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things maybe we shouldn't say and just blurting

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out a bunch of foolishness. I think it just makes

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us feel bad or maybe puffs us up with pride,

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which affects us in some other way too. It affects

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our spirit. Maybe we say things and then later

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we go back and we regret that we said them. Man,

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I wish I hadn't said that. And it makes us feel

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bad. It affects us. But it also affects the person.

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that we spoke those words to. And so what are

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our tongues doing in our life every day? Do we

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have a tongue that brings healing? Or do we have

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a tongue that leaves us regretting what we had

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to say and really hurting the one that we spoke

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to? Do we have a tongue that always comes back

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with a harsh word? Or do we have a tongue that's

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full of gentleness? Do we have a tongue that

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tears people down or do we have a tongue that

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builds people up? Those are good questions for

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us to ask ourselves. And maybe we ask ourselves

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some of those questions and we say, you know

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what? I haven't quite mastered this yet. Or maybe

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you say, yeah, I've mastered all those. I'm the

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master of my tongue. Well, praise the Lord. You

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can give me some tips when we leave. But chances

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are there's probably going to be some point in

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your life where That question is going to come

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to your mind. Should I say this or should I keep

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my mouth shut? Well, remember Proverbs chapter

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15 verse 1. Remember the gentleness that the

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Lord has shown to you. Remember the gentleness

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of Jesus Christ. Remember the grace and compassion

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that you have received. Remember how the word

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of God is an encouragement to you and a strength

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to you. Remember how when you see the words of

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Jesus and how he speaks and how Paul speaks,

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how the strength that you get from those words.

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Remember that and let that guide your words.

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So that you would speak with the same gentleness.

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So that your words would be words of strength

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and encouragement. That your words would be words

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of hope. That your words would be words that

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would be a light in the darkness. Not that people

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would celebrate your words, but so that they

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would see the heart of Jesus Christ through your

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words. Do the people around you see the love

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of Christ in your words today? And the way that

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you treat people and the things that you say

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to people? Well, if the words that we say today

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aren't a good representative of the love of God,

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then we need to pray and say, God, I need you

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to help me with my tongue. Help me to know when

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to shut up and when to speak. And help me not

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to say more than I have to. Let's pray. God,

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we thank you for these good words. It's a good

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call to action, dear Lord. And I pray that you

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would help us to be able to do good at this.

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And maybe some are better than others. Or maybe

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we all struggle, dear Lord. I don't know. But

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it's not always easy for us to keep our mouth

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shut. And so I pray that you give us the strength

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to do so. Dear Lord, maybe there are times that

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we need to speak and help us to know when those

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times are and help us to know what to say in

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those times, dear Lord, but help us to be gentle

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and to not escalate situations, but to try to

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be one who's calm and brings a gentle spirit

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of love and peace and compassion to those things.

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God, let us not be a tongue that tears people

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down. that breaks people's spirits, that leaves

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us just feeling horrible for the things we've

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said. But God, let our tongue bring healing,

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as the proverb says, dear Lord, that it would

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be an encouragement to those that we encounter.

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And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.