Words & Wisdom

The more I listen to people,

the more I realize that few

actually listen to themselves.

Often, as I sit and listen

to others monologues,

I will hear them contradict

themselves numerous times.

I suppose what it really comes down to

is that people often fail 

to think before they speak.

Yet, on-the-other-hand,

I have had plenty of encounters

with people who do the opposite.

They will think before they speak;

going so far as to rehearse what they want to say.

This isn't an "all bad" thing

(I often do this myself),

yet, I have noticed that often,

there is a hidden agenda

behind their words;

 making sure that everyone knows

just what they think

without any interest in what anyone else thinks.

We all know that little cliche

that says, 

"We were given two ears and one mouth

so that we can listen twice as much

as we speak."

Yet, few actually put this into practice.

Much of what people speak

is driven by emotion without any thought

of  effect.

Now, I've certainly been guilty

of all of the above,

otherwise, I would have no room

to speak of it.

But as I have allowed God to reveal myself to me,

I have also allowed Holy Spirit to

show and teach me how to change.

In John 14 (vs 10),

Jesus says,

"The words that I speak to you

aren't mere words.

I don't just make them up

on my own.

The Father who resides in Me

crafts each word into

a divine act."

And we are told many times 

in the Bible that the tongue

is a mighty force,

wielding the power

of life & death.

Jesus' example reveals to us

the purpose of God;

which is to

give Life.

Further along in John 14,

Jesus tells us that because of Him,

we also have this same power and ability;

to speak Life and goodness over people.

However, the opposite is true as well.

If we choose NOT to allow

our words to cooperate with the purposes

of God,

then we allow them to cooperate with

the purposes of the evil one.

So, how do we know the difference?

Simple.

If our words are not

kind, loving, honorable, noble, uplifting, edifying, true -

- Good,

then they are not of God.

Holy Spirit has two things He does with me

when I have conversations with people.

The first is to quicken my pulse 

when He is prompting me to say something 

He wants them to hear.

The other thing is

to place His hand on my arm

when I am tempted to say something

that is better left unsaid.

By following these two little "checks",

I am able to rest in knowing that

my conversations have been pleasing to Him.

They key is

obedience.

I do this even with my blog posts.

Many writings have ended up in the garbage

as I allow Holy Spirit to choose 

what goes public.

Why?

Because 

I want to be like

Jesus!

As David said,

"May the words from my mouth

and the things in my heart

be acceptable in the sight of the Lord."

Indeed,

these are wise words 

to live by!