Keep your Words to Yourself – Part I

29 Jan Keep your Words to Yourself – Part I

January 29, 2023

Keep your Words to Yourself – Part I

Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving. James 1:19 AMP

Ever heard the saying “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;” this quote is taken from a scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s just one of the words of advice being given to a son leaving home.

The power of keeping your words to yourself is a key to learning, leading, succeeding… Learning because it makes you a careful thoughtful listener, which decreases misunderstandings, can heads off conflict and even keep you from looking foolish. The Word of God says in Proverbs 18:13, KJV: “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.”

Jesus said in Matthew 11:15 “He who has ears, let him hear” this is not age restrictive the person being told to “Give every man thy ear…” in Hamlet was in his twenties. I remember growing up that the rule was “Children are to be seen not heard” and when you were allow to speak you were very careful with your words and many times figured out that it was to your benefit to just stay quite.

See words can speak life, can get you in trouble… or on the spiritual side alert the enemy to what you are thinking or planning to do. Do not confess negative thoughts ask the Lord to help us to guard our words whenever we say something  Psalms 141:3 CEV.   Psalms 39:1 says “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”

Listening/hearing is very Important In chapters two through three in the book of Revelation Jesus in his letters to the seven churches ends each letter with the statement “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

So this week let us focus our hearts on studying to be quite 1 Thessalonians 4:11 so that we can not only respect and hear during conversations… but there maybe something God wants to say to us. 💕

Theresa Woodard