The Tongue of a Fool

know for me there's a lot of scriptures that

i've read and i comprehend but man even after

knowing them for years i still find some of them

hard to to do i still find myself failing at

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

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

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

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

y 'all have mastered some of these things but

every it seems like every time that i read through

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

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

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

good for us to read scriptures that we've read

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

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

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

to read through the scriptures. Man, it just

constantly reminds me that I got a long way to

go, that there are some areas in my life where

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

that, hey, you need to pay attention to some

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

and really throughout the proverbs, is a good

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

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

and passages like it, they come back to my mind

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

Proverbs 15 · chapter mention

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

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

will get started. Dear Lord, we thank you for

your good word and I pray that we would hear

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

dear Lord. Maybe there are some things in your

word that are easy for us and we master those

things, but maybe there are other things that

we struggle with and we don't want to struggle

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

I pray, God, that your word would just strengthen

us and be a reminder to us and that you would

just kind of guide us along in a way to help

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

and that we need to improve. that your word would

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

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

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

Proverbs 15:1

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

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

is a good scripture. That is a good scripture

for us to think about and to remember because

it will happen at some point in your life. It

has happened before and it will happen again

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

situation with somebody. It just happens. Maybe

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

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

coworker. Maybe it's somebody at the supermarket.

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

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

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

that comes up or you did something or they did

something. And people are going to be at their

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

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

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

shortage of them. When we get in those situations,

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

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

even people we love, not people we hate, even

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

We open our mouth and we just let the harsh words

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

just... causes the whole situation to explode.

And sometimes it spills over into other people.

And then other people begin to argue. And then

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

fussing and feuding and there's rioting in the

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

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

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

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

Maybe we were on the receiving end of it. Maybe

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

seen groups on TV that are at odds. But this

is something that we all are familiar with in

some way. And the harsh word is what stirs up

wrath. And so when you get to that point and

you just let those harsh words flow, most of

the time it does not. make the situation better.

I would say it never makes the situation better.

It only escalates the situation. But what is

the solution? What is the solution? When we feel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

there's probably been times in your life where

you had something on the tip of your tongue and

in your mind and in your heart you thought to

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

think about it long enough because you just had

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

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

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

if we have to ask ourselves, should I say this

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

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

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

the moment in our emotions, we just, we give

in. And we give that harsh word and it makes

things worse. But how many situations in your

life could you have made better by giving a gentle

answer? Now somebody might come at you and they

may be full force. I'm talking about tearing

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

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

the situation get better? That's what the Lord

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

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

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

struggle with it mightily. Maybe you don't ever

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

harshness to the core. Maybe this is a good verse

for us to settle on. Because in almost every

situation, if somebody comes at you and they're

getting on you, Your response will either make

things better or worse. And if you answer with

a gentle answer and with calmness and are not

confrontational, chances are that situation is

probably going to die pretty quick. But if you

answer with a harsh word, that situation is probably

going to get worse and worse and worse and worse.

So maybe we can think back in our life at times

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

shut, Or if I would have just said something

that was a little more gentle than what I said,

man, maybe I could have resolved some conflicts.

Maybe there are some conflicts and some barriers

between you and someone else tonight that's a

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

words back, but maybe this scripture is a good

reminder for us tonight that maybe we need to

reconcile with some folks that we spoke a harsh

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

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

we can bring forth to somebody that we've wronged

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

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

Maybe if we approach them with some gentleness

and love, maybe that changes hearts. It changes

attitudes. It helps folks to reconcile with each

other. Verse 2. The tongue of the wise makes

knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools

blurts out foolishness. That's a good verse to

think about right there. Do the words that come

out of your mouth, are they attractive to people?

Do the words that come out of your mouth attract

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

you just running your mouth with a bunch of foolishness,

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

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

of verses that talk about this very idea throughout

the Proverbs about the fool making his voice

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

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

goes, I think Ernest quoted it in Sunday school

this week or last week. I can remain silent and

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

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

probably would be better off just saying very

little or maybe saying nothing at all. But perhaps

sometimes we say words that really don't amount

to a hill of beans. But what does the proverb

say? The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive.

So the knowledge that we have of God, the knowledge

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

And the way that we talk with people and communicate

with people, when we open our mouth and words

come out, are we just rambling like a bunch of

fools? Or are we doing something that brings

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

of Scripture and that knowledge of Jesus Christ

and the way that we speak to people, does it

make that attractive to them? Do our words attract

people to listen to what we have to say? Not

for us. So what we say will be something that

brings glory to God. Are the words that come

out of our mouth unattractive and a turn off?

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

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

to examine our heart. We have to ask the Lord

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

come out of our mouth. To know when to speak

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

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

or say a lot. I suspect probably almost always

saying a little is the better option. Maybe there

are occasions that speaking up with more words

is better, but I think generally speaking, a

few words is probably the best way to go. Verse

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

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

a good word. Our tongue is a powerful thing.

We see that from Scripture. We see that from

the book of James and the New Testament. Man,

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

come out of your mouth, they have power for good

or for bad, for positive or for negative. They

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

tongue that heals is a tree of life. Is your

tongue a tongue that heals? Or is your tongue

a tongue that harms? Do you bring encouragement

and compassion and love with the words that you

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

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

If you go around spouting negative words and

bad words and angry words and harsh words, then

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

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

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

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

but a devious tongue or a perverse tongue, maybe

in some of your translations, breaks the spirit.

That's a tongue that just wants to argue and

feud and is proud. and only out for himself,

and the things that that tongue says isn't really

concerned about others, but just the person who's

saying those words. And it says that the devious

tongue breaks the spirit. I think that's true

both of the speaker and of the hearer. I think

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

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

when our tongue's just running rampant and saying

things maybe we shouldn't say and just blurting

out a bunch of foolishness. I think it just makes

us feel bad or maybe puffs us up with pride,

which affects us in some other way too. It affects

our spirit. Maybe we say things and then later

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

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

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

that we spoke those words to. And so what are

our tongues doing in our life every day? Do we

have a tongue that brings healing? Or do we have

a tongue that leaves us regretting what we had

to say and really hurting the one that we spoke

to? Do we have a tongue that always comes back

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

full of gentleness? Do we have a tongue that

tears people down or do we have a tongue that

builds people up? Those are good questions for

us to ask ourselves. And maybe we ask ourselves

some of those questions and we say, you know

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

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

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

can give me some tips when we leave. But chances

are there's probably going to be some point in

your life where That question is going to come

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

my mouth shut? Well, remember Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 15:1

15 verse 1. Remember the gentleness that the

Lord has shown to you. Remember the gentleness

of Jesus Christ. Remember the grace and compassion

that you have received. Remember how the word

of God is an encouragement to you and a strength

to you. Remember how when you see the words of

Jesus and how he speaks and how Paul speaks,

how the strength that you get from those words.

Remember that and let that guide your words.

So that you would speak with the same gentleness.

So that your words would be words of strength

and encouragement. That your words would be words

of hope. That your words would be words that

would be a light in the darkness. Not that people

would celebrate your words, but so that they

would see the heart of Jesus Christ through your

words. Do the people around you see the love

of Christ in your words today? And the way that

you treat people and the things that you say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And maybe some are better than others. Or maybe

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

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

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

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

we need to speak and help us to know when those

times are and help us to know what to say in

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

and to not escalate situations, but to try to

be one who's calm and brings a gentle spirit

of love and peace and compassion to those things.

God, let us not be a tongue that tears people

down. that breaks people's spirits, that leaves

us just feeling horrible for the things we've

said. But God, let our tongue bring healing,

as the proverb says, dear Lord, that it would

be an encouragement to those that we encounter.

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