My Daily Pause

The tongue is as powerful as a ship’s rudder

The right word spoken at the right time
is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl.

A wise warning to someone who will listen
is as valuable as gold earrings or fine gold jewelry. – Proverbs 25:11-12 NCV

Nothing can change a situation faster than words. Even the words I select in this post will determine your decision to finish reading it.

Like the Proverb writer, we love to be around those that always seem to know just the right words to say. Right or wrong, we choose our leaders, form opinions and make life altering decisions based on the words of others.

But we can be like that for them!

Not all of us need to be great orators, but training our tongue is a God given duty. It is how we are able to carry out the great commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) Look at what James said about the power of the tongue: James 3:2-10. When offering God to others, let’s make sure our words right ones spoken at the right time.

Those who are careful about what they say keep themselves out of trouble. – Proverbs 21:23 NCV

The tongue is a very powerful tool. James 3:3-5 tells us it equal to a horseman’s bit or a ship’s rudder. It literally can change the direction of the world:

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can control their whole bodies.4 Also a ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship, making it go wherever the pilot wants.5 It is the same with the tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it brags about great things. – NCV

One of my kid’s three rules that we went over each morning before school was to keep his mouth closed during class. I’m not sure that I ever mentioned that this was Solomon’s advice too.