The tongue of the wise brings healing (Proverbs 12:18)
People who like to talk are estimated to utter 30,000 words every day! The question is, how do our words, whether a lot or a little, affect our neighbors?
A Greek philosopher asked his servant to cook the most delicious dish. The wise waiter served a dish of tongue meat and said, "This is the most delicious of all dishes, for it reminds us to use the tongue to bless and express joy, to dispel sorrow, to dispel despair, and to spread joy."
Then he asked for the most unpleasant dish. Again the waiter served tongue meat while saying, "This is the most unpleasant dish, because it reminds us that we can use the tongue to curse, and crush hearts, destroy reputations, create strife, and make families and nations go to war."
To understand the meaning of the servant's words, we do not need to eat the flesh of the tongue first. We may often have “swallowed our own words” before we learned to avoid the words we want to pull back.
Solomon wrote: “The tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18). This verse affirms and encourages one another. The key word of the verse is not tongue but wisdom. The tongue cannot control itself, only the owner can control it.
If you want your tongue to build up others and not bring you down, ask God to make you wise --Joanie Yoder
WISDOM means knowing the right time
to speak and think about the consequences
to speak and think about the consequences
*) Take from daily meditation