Proverbs – Week 2 (the Tongue)
I had the privilege of teaching through some of the themes in Proverbs this summer. Over the next seven weeks, I will summarize what I learned and post it here. In true Proverbs fashion, I want to keep each of these points short, punchy, and powerful. If you hang with me for the entire seven weeks, you will notice that each of these posts are alliterative, and they employ an inclusio (opening phrase repeated at the end). These are just two of the many literary devices that Proverbs utilizes to make its wisdom memorable. This week’s truth? Mastering self by controlling your tongue.
The Truth in Proverbs about Your Tongue:
Proverbs has more to say about our speech than any other topic. Perhaps that is because our speech pervades every area of our life (our friends, our marriages, our careers, our parenting, our families, and every other relationship we have). James tells us that the tongue propels our lives like the rudder of a ship (James 3:4-5). Mastering our lives, then, requires us to examine our tongues. And Proverbs tells us that our tongue is a reflection of our heart. Thus, mastering our tongue requires us to study our hearts, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). And it is only through Christ’s renewal of our hearts that we can truly begin to experience life abundantly (John 10:10).
Some of the characteristics of wicked/foolish speech cataloged in Proverbs are lying, deceit, slander, concealment of hatred, babbling, flattery, uselessness, and hastiness. This type of speech results in ruin, destruction, death, anger, transgression, and separation of friends. On the contrary, righteous/wise speech is characterized by being sweet, gracious, good, right, acceptable, truthful, and prudent. This type of speech is persuasive and leads to wisdom, wealth, deliverance, knowledge, and joy.
If I’m really honest, too often my speech reflects the characteristics of wickedness and foolishness. When I examine my heart for the root of this sin, I find that most of my wicked and foolish speech is a result of anger (Proverbs 15:1). So what are we to do?
- Be Quiet (Proverbs 10:19, 11:12)
- Listen (Proverbs 12:15, 15:31, 25:12; James 1:19)
- Slow Down (Proverbs 19:11; 21:5)
- Take Action (Proverbs 12:14, 14:23, 29:19)
Finding Christ in Proverbs:
As in all things, Christ is our example in speech as well. His speech was sweet, gracious, good, right, acceptable, truthful, and prudent. It was persuasive and it led to wisdom, spiritual wealth, deliverance, knowledge, and joy. He was not always soft-spoken, but His words always had their desired effect. And their desired effect was always righteous, reflecting the heart of the speaker.
Conclusion from Proverbs about the Tongue
Is your speech more often characterized by wickedness and foolishness or wisdom and righteousness?
What does that say about your heart?
What measures can you take to renew your heart to reflect wisdom and righteousness?
Additional Resources
If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy my book on relational theology The Relational God :
Additional Thoughts
This post is part of a series on Proverbs. As I teach or study certain passages and topics, I find it helpful to coalesce my thoughts into a cogent blog post.
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