Thought for the day – Tuesday 28 April

Thought for the day - Tuesday 28 April
Dear Reader
Someone a short while ago got a bit annoyed with me and told me that ”I talked too much”. I said: ‘Well, we all have our opinions and If you really think I talk too much just let me know and we can talk about it”. I don’t think it was you!
We are all familiar with phrases, are we not, like, ‘shoot from the hip’, ‘I always speak my mind’, ‘in my opinion’, ‘let me finish’ and so on…… You can hear these phrases every day, maybe you even use them yourself. More often than not they’re said with a little barb.
Another thing to notice in conversation is the pace and volume of speech in the person you’re talking with when they want to make their point, even before you’ve finished speaking too. They talk over you. In conversation, there are those who listen while the other person speaks and those who impatiently wait their turn to speak.
Thinking of what people have been saying recently, we have heard the most outrageous utterings from President Donald Trump. He spoke and still speaks, in the most ill-informed, ill-timed and lamentably irresponsible manner. In another tirade, he said he was being ‘sarcastic’. You need a little intelligence to be sarcastic, don’t you?
If you’ve not already seen or heard what he said and how he said it, you might want to investigate for yourself. President Trump has been challenged for his remarks and so he should be. His words, it seems to me, ought to be the essence of careful and considered thought. They weren’t and aren’t. It’s our words, not our thoughts that count.
We are all capable of speaking ‘out of turn’, capable of spreading wounding and damaging gossip. We as ordinary people are capable of anything, good or bad. Thoughts become words, words become deeds, and the following deeds come the consequences. Being capable of something doesn’t imply inevitability however good or bad.
Of the 24 verses of the Proverb for consideration today half of them, directly or indirectly, have to do with speech. What can we learn and apply in our conversations with one another?
Today I ask you to think/consider these things.
God bless you!

Jim

JBoag@churchofscotland.org.uk

PROVERBS 18

An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.

Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.

When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.

The words of the mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.

It is not good to be partial to the wicked
and so deprive the innocent of justice.

The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.

The mouths of fools are their undoing,
and their lips are a snare to their very lives.

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.

One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honour.

To answer before listening—
that is folly and shame.

The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
for the ears of the wise seek it out.

A gift opens the way
and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right,

until someone comes forward and cross-examines.

Casting the lot settles disputes
and keeps strong opponents apart.

A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city;
disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.

The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.

He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favour from the Lord.

The poor plead for mercy,
but the rich answer harshly.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

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