Fire Mouth

“On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭10:13-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So many of the verses in this chapter are pointed at that small thing we call our mouth. It may be small in its size, but it's huge in its capacity to deliver love or hate, good or evil. For those of us who like talk, it can be quite challenging at times to keep our mouths from getting us in trouble. There have been many an occasion where my lips want to keep on going, but then I get the eye language from my wife that is saying "stop, you've said enough".

How many times have we said words that we come to regret soon after they leave our lips?

In the book of James 3:4-5 our mouth is compared to a rudder on a ship...
“Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!”

Yes, the mighty mouth. If we believe that we are truly called to go and make disciples of all the earth, then we probably should make sure that we are storing up wisdom, knowledge and truth by digging into Gods word and getting it inside of us. When you spend time in community with the people God has placed in your path, do they see wisdom, truth and knowledge on your lips, or is it something else? Are you wisely sharing Gods love or carelessly starting fires?

I pray that we will continually lean on God to help us control mouths so that people will know us by our love.


‭‭- Jerry