James 3:10 (NASB) from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
Ephesians 4:29 (NASB) 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, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Have you ever had a slip of the tongue…a time when you just were not thinking and shared or expressed something you should not have? Did you spit something out in a moment of anger? Are you so delusional that you feel powerful when you habitually slay the reputation of others? Privacy, trust and
wholesome speech are very important to me. Moments when I spill the beans are rare. Confidentiality, in my opinion, is priceless. I have learned to give it is a gift to others, for it is such a healthy foundation on which to build relationships. Likewise, grumbling and negative talk irk me, especially when I catch
ugly words spurting out of my own heart. (One particular touchy subject tends to trip me up far too often in this respect!) When I am guilty of sharing or saying something irresponsibly, I end up kicking myself for the next couple of weeks at least, despite the realization of God’s forgiveness. Sometimes the
Holy Spirit says, “Shhhhh,” but I fail to listen, and then really, really wish I had.
As a new Christian, I confided to a woman who then took it upon herself to use the ‘prayer requests template’ as a tool to gossip about me. I overheard her ‘sharing my need’ one morning; and oh, how obvious was it that she relished the opportunity to do so! I was embarrassed and devastated that my
personal history had been revealed to so many people I scarcely knew. I did not give her permission to do that! At that time in my life, what people thought of me was a matter of utmost importance in my thinking. After that experience, I put up a ‘fine wall’ when anyone in the congregation asked me how I
was doing. I was unwilling to open up to others for some time because of her betrayal. There was, however, an elderly woman in the church who would not permit me to continue to hide and wither behind that wall. I cannot remember whether her name was Vivian, Viola, Vera, or Valerie; I think it was
something like that. For the sake of simplicity, I am just going to call her Mabel.
The first time I ever really talked with Mabel was on a Sunday morning after an extremely bad night. She was friendly and had genuine compassion in her eyes, but never the less, when she asked how I was doing I responded with the standard “fine”. After all, I convinced myself that if I acted as if everything
was okay, she would be none the wiser. Wrong! Mabel still looked compassionate, but she also became quite firm with me. “Now don’t be lying to me!” she said. “The Holy Spirit did not wake me up in the middle of the night to pray for you because you were fine!” At that point, I burst into tears and she
spent time ministering to me. I am sure it would have been easier for Mabel to simply say, “Well, that’s nice,” and go on about other business rather than investing in my well-being. I imagine the devil probably tried to convince Mabel to hold her tongue, but she ignored him. I highly suspect that Mabel
had a lot of experience listening to God and ignoring the devil. Her words were wise, seasoned with grace, timely and deliciously confidential! I felt safe talking to Mabel but was still very leery of sharing with anyone else.
There are times God and Satan both want us to keep our gums from flapping, but never at the same time. We must choose: Will we be an honest and edifying spokesperson who builds others up for the Lord? On the other hand, is being a grumbling, backbiting, gossiping, lying, foul-mouthed loud mouth
for the enemy what we prefer? When the Holy Spirit says “Shhhhh”, we should hush up. However, when the devil says “Shhhhh”, ignore him! He is just spewing out a bunch of bad breath.