Proverbs: Day 15 - Hold That Thought! - [Chapter 15]

I've always been curious as to what makes some people tick.  In 12 years of being in business management in northern Minnesota and 26 years of the ministry in various locations over the state, I've run into folks who will say anything, apparently without thinking about what they are saying.  It doesn't matter to them if I'm pastoring a church or if I was working for a wholesale company.  Their voice is going to be heard.

That part doesn't trouble me so much - the part of being free to say what you believe in or to say what is on your heart and mind.  I certainly believe that people should speak what is in their heart and mind.  But the word restraint never enters the picture.  Sometimes people say what they want even if it comes out wrong or hurtful.  It reminds me a bit of the scene in the movie "Jurassic Park" where two scientists are arguing about the ability to repopulate the earth with dinosaurs: 

John Hammond: I don't think you're giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody's ever done before...

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.  

Perhaps it might be a stretch, but isn't it true that we have moments when we are so preoccupied with our own perspective that we say the first thing that comes into our minds?  Suddenly, without warning the thoughts we have come out as words that have power and impact those who hear them.  How did that happen, we wonder?  Why did I say that?  

We need to stop for a moment and think about what we believe, or what we are feeling, or what we want to respond to.  It's only a short moment to consider how our words might come across to the other person.

"The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit." - Proverbs 15:4

Or maybe we need to recall what we learned as children:

"O be careful little mouth what you say

 O be careful little mouth what you say

There's a Father up above

And He's looking down in love

  So, be careful little mouth what you say..."