Our tongue is the biggest enemy of our peace. It can destroy us from in and out. If not tamed correctly, it can ruin years and years of hard work. Silence, is one of the major tools of getting close to Lord, as the tongue is the weapon used by the satan to pull us down in God’s eye but silence is its antidote.
Exodus 14:14
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Whenever we are in a tricky situation, the Lord knows our situation very well, but our decision to allow the Lord or the satan to govern the situation decides whether we would come out of it successfully or not. Wisdom by god would compel us to maintain peace and silence whereas, satanic forces would force us to retaliate and open our mouth to speak evil words. To be tranquil is an art and a habit that can come only through seeking Lord in our lives. We tend go astray and lose our temper in trying circumstances. Whereas, the true mettle and character of a person is being reflected only when he faces uncomfortable situations. More demanding the situation, more tempted are you by satan to burst open your mouth with anger or evil words. Satan will keep on fusillading with duplicitous situations. But, a person in and with Jesus would understand the circumstances and will act peacefully and silently because those are the traits of wisdom given by the Lord. What must be understood is to use the words wisely and sparingly. One can’t display eloquence in speech and highest level of vocabulary thinking it to be wise, because ironically what matters, is the words being given by Lord to speak. If Lord wants us to stay calm in certain situations, we have to adhere to his commandments instead of showing our narcissism. Our rush to react lands our lives in mess and impels us to go against Jesus.
James 1:19
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
In today’s scenario, people are extremely impatient to listen, but eager to react. Whereas the Bible commands us the right way for approaching situations. It tells us to listen a lot so as to avoid misunderstandings and to grab most of the things said. Once we understand what precisely has been said then only we should open our mouth to speak and that too only if required. Once we decide to speak, recall the Bible and Jesus commandment to love each other as yourself and then carry on with the words chosen carefully and given to us by the Holy Spirit. And lastly, we should be extremely slow to get angry. What we follow is complete reverse of this cycle, we become angry extremely fast, we are eager to speak and extremely poor at listening. Are these the traits of a person who follows Jesus and who reads the Bible, certainly not. The reverse cycle is surely devilish in nature and is being prompted by satan. Whereas, if we listen to the Holy Spirit, our wisdom would be showcased through our silence in trying conditions. We are all humans, so the age old idiom of “to err is human” applies, however, a person who constantly seeks the Lord and reads the Bible, is being governed by the Holy Spirit and is being blessed with the wisdom of knowing and tackling the situations in a way pleasing to God. Satan will try to beguile us as he did to Adam and Eve. A cool and calm head is always a sign of wisdom and knowledge bestowed upon us by God.
Proverbs 17:27
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
In worldly surrounding and company, using words sparingly might be considered as a weakness but certainly not in spiritual terms. A man with few words but wise words is being appreciated everywhere, even among pagans, gentiles and non believers. Calmness, is a virtue for which people spend a fortune to learn, but we as believers can have that virtue literally free of cost, all we need to do is follow Jesus and remember his commandments and instructions given in the Bible. Many worldly battles could be won by just merely being silent and many souls could be won for Jesus by using words wisely and at right time. Even when Jesus was being captured and was being accused by chief priests, he didn’t retaliate with anger or evil words. He simply, kept quiet and his cool.
Matthew 27:12
And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
Jesus was wise enough to understand that all this was happening for a reason. It was Heavenly Father’s wish to save mankind of eternal death through his beloved son Jesus. Similarly, lot of times we are not in a desiring situation, but, in the hindsight it is for our own betterment and a plan carefully crafted for us by our Lord for ameliorating our life. Jesus being an obedient son understood the plans of Heavenly Father, similarly when we become obedient children of God, we understand what the Holy Spirit is wanting from us, and we should adhere to instructions given by the Holy Spirit with utmost happiness and selflessness. One among the instructions that the Holy Spirit always instructs us is, not to react in certain unwanting situations, or just maintaining silence in those circumstances, however most of us, we bypass that edict and force ourselves to land in trouble by disobeying. Jesus could have easily freed himself when he was accused because he had the power, however he choose not to because he knew the Heavenly Father’s desires and instructions and obeyed him.
What, when and how we speak leaves a lasting impression on the other person. Therefore, it is imperative to choose and use words wisely as they will eventually decide as to which way the conversation would go. Wisely chosen words blessed by the Holy Spirit, helps us to win souls for the Kingdom and also keeps us in the good books of the other person. Never, be quiet if someone asks about the Lord but instead answer that person with utmost faith and hope that one day he too will be saved, by the Grace of the God.
1 Peter 3:15-16
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Having a good conscience;that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse of your good conversation in Christ.
People who try to belittle us through their cantankerous attitude will not only be defeated but as the Bible says, they would be put to shame because of their malicious heart. The particular verse talks about having a good conscience while talking with others, this is because once a person has a clean and honest conscience he won’t feel offended; which indeed ignites the anger inside the person. Therefore, open up the mouth to praise the Lord, open up the mouth to glorify the Lord, and even sometimes keep silence and peace to glorify the Lord. A nonbeliever can easily be instigated, but in silence search the Lord, in silence search the salvation through Jesus but never get instigated and hyper in trying and unwanting situations as that is the real test of your character in Jesus and temperament towards his commandments.
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