Don Williams
“Be very careful, then, how you life – not as unwise but as wise…” Ephesians 5:15
We are learning how to live from the Book of Proverbs. Jesus, in his humanity, knew this book. Here is true wisdom. Listen to today’s proverb.
“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.” Proverbs 10:11
Words count. How many of us have had hard, judgmental, critical, wounding words spoken to us? They hurt deeply. We have been called names. We have even been cursed and in moments of rage sentenced to Hell itself! “Go to Hell” is not merely a word of rejection, it is a curse. Because we have been so hurt, now as new creatures in Christ, we must guard our mouths. It is no sin to censor thoughts that explode with violence toward another person. In fact, it is wisdom to keep quiet.
As we have seen in this series, a “righteous” person is one who lives freely before God. He or she earnestly seeks God and obeys his Word. This is not legalism; it is life. In the righteous, obedience comes from the heart. The New Testament shows us that the righteous person has been made righteous through the merit of Christ. He is our righteousness, our right standing before God, the one in whom we are pronounced “not guilty” on the Day of Judgment. But our righteousness is not only from Christ, it is in Christ and we are in him. This is one way of saying that we are not only legally righteous through his atoning death, we are becoming righteous, we are becoming what we are. When this change takes place, we can begin to fulfill this proverb: “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life…”
Our mouths reveal our hearts. We have given up lying, covering our tracks, saying one thing and doing another. In our addictions we naturally lie. First, we live in denial. We deny that we are addicts at all. Second, we use lies to keep ourselves in the darkness and put others there as well. We claim that we are acting in our best interests as our addictions are killing us. We claim to be free when we are in bondage. We speak out these lies to keep ourselves convinced and to convince others. We retreat into the darkness and claim that it is the light. But then God intervenes. He turns on the lights and the darkness is exposed for what it is. In God’s light it is dispelled, driven away. Now we are a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17)
Rather than cursing and wounding others, our change of heart means a change of speech. Our mouths, this proverb promises, become fountains of life. Some years ago I taught college. My Fall class was in Paul’s theology. An older student sat in the back and challenged me throughout the semester. He continually objected to how Paul thought. At the end of the term, I assigned reading through the book of Romans. My adversary did the assignment and then came to me the next week. He said that while he was reading this letter, “God spoke to me.” I had to be careful in my response because I taught in a secular institution. But I replied, “Well, if God spoke to you, then you know what you have to do.” He responded, “I told my wife when we were married that I would only bow once; now I have to bow again.” He was right on target. The final was next week, and as he turned in his exam, he told me that he had become a Christian. He went on to say that I didn’t know him, but that he had served in the Navy on a submarine. He suffered from “sailor’s mouth.” Every other word was profanity. But now, one week later, he hardly recognized himself. His swearing vanished. He no longer cursed others or himself. God had given him a righteous mouth. Rather than it being a fountain of death, it was becoming a fountain of life. God was purifying it, cleaning it up.
Our proverb continues: “…but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.” You see, the wicked, like my sailor, spew out curses. But we reap what we sow, and violence comes back from those they attack. They are literally overwhelmed as they are punched in the mouth. Listen to James: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:19-21)
Prayer of the day “Lord, clean me up. Fill my heart with righteousness. Make my mouth a fountain of life. May I reap righteousness as I sow righteousness. May I reap love as I sow love. For Jesus’ sake. Amen