Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Weight of Words | The Writings | Proverbs 18

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

Our words are far more powerful than we realize. Have you considered the weight of your words? Are you using your words to build up or tear down?  In today's episode, Jeff shares how Proverbs 18 invites us to use our words for the sake of Jesus' kingdom. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Proverbs 18

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. Loose lips sink ships. You're likely familiar with this popular idiom that goes back to World War II and the movement to prevent military information from unintentionally spreading into the wrong years. Amidst the threat of espionage by the enemy, this strategy warned the public at home about the dangers of discussing war details, like the movement of troops, with careless detail. Loose lips sink ships was a way to say, be careful how you use your words,

because they could change the course of the war without you even knowing it. There's an interesting history behind the use and effectiveness of phrases like this, but what stands out to me is its stark presentation of the power of words. Imagine for a moment a great warship sinking in the middle of the sea. You'd probably think that the ship is sunk by something explosive, like the concussion from a torpedo or a mine. And of course, that's true. That would indeed be the final cause of sinking a ship. But the first cause of that ship sinking could be something as seemingly innocuous as a word. A word that was used in the wrong way, at the wrong time,

could lead to destruction. Loose lips can sink ships. Our words are far more formidable than we tend to realize. Proverbs 18 presents a multifaceted sketch of the power of our words. This chapter in the Bible challenges us to not only speak with words differently, but also hear words differently. And along the way, it encourages us to be the kind of people who use our words wisely. But Proverbs 18 doesn't just warn us against the destructive power of words. It also invites us to use our words to construct something more glorious than we can possibly imagine. Now, as we approach God's word together, let's pause and ask for His grace to move through our time. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath, and thank you for your

word. Jesus help us abide and remain in you as we grapple with your truth. Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in Proverbs 18. As we read these words together, let these words read us and restore us as a community of faith. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, as human beings, one of the fundamental problems that plagues us is our inability to see the true weight of our words. The wisdom within Proverbs 18, along with the rest of the Proverbs, goes to great lengths to illuminate the full, powerful potential of our speech. Consider verses 6 through 7. 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. These verses are like a biblical version of the slogan, Loose Lips,

sink ships. Our tendency is to think that our words don't amount to that much. That slight, that insult, that little moment of gossip, can feel like such an innocent little comment. But according to Proverbs, what you're actually doing is inviting conflict, creating your own undoing, making a trap for your life. While you think you're just making a comment, you're really manufacturing chaos. And if all of this is true, then wise people must be humble enough to consider the weight of their words. Let's stop together for a quick checkup on how we've been using words lately. Are there moments in the past, in the recent past, when you've carelessly talked to someone

or about someone in a way that created strife, in a way that's led to someone's undoing, or perhaps your own undoing? What happened? And how did it impact the world around you? How do you need to confess the foolish or careless use of words when talking to or about someone? Maybe that's the use of words in person, or maybe it's online, or maybe it's even just in the realm of your thought life, but it's no less real. Pause to consider these things, confess them, and receive the grace of Jesus. It's convicting for me personally to consider how I need to speak differently in light of the power behind my words. But Proverbs 18 also presents us with our need to hear words differently. Let's look at just a few verses that help us hear better. Verse 13 says, to answer before listening, that is folly and shame.

Verse 15 says, the heart of the discerning acquires knowledge for the ears of the wise seek it out. Verse 17 says this, the first to state his case seems right until another, comes and cross-examines him. In a world obsessed with hearing the quickest and loudest voices, Proverbs 18 beckons us to listen more slowly, more carefully, to sift through what we hear by allowing the passage of time and the perspective of others to broaden and deepen our awareness of what's true. Let's slow down to reflect on the ways that Proverbs 18 may help us hear words differently. Have you noticed within your life a tendency to be drawn to the quickest or the loudest or the most interesting voices, neglecting the slower wisdom of context and community? What are some

half-truths or perhaps even blatant lies you may be intaking in this stage of your life? Who's a wise person you can seek out to help you hear more faithfully? Pause to ask for, God's provision of thoughtful people who can help you slow down and hear words with wisdom. One of the things that I love about Proverbs 18 and the Bible's wisdom on words overall is that it isn't simply warning us of the dangerous power of speech. It's also awakening us to the life-giving potential of words when they're used and infused with truth and love. Look at how verses 20 through 21 described this constructive, use of language. 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. God's trying to show his people that their words are far more formidable than they tend to think. They can bear fruit that leads to life and flourishing for them and for other people. So yes, our words have the power to break, but they also have the power to build. Let's get into the shoes of the original audience of Proverbs now, God's people living in exile. And let's consider the difference this dynamic of words would make for them. So remember, they're surrounded by internal and external pressures to abandon God and adhere to their culture's view of the good life. They're tempted to use their words to cultivate the kind of world that they're not. They're

the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, or the Romans wanted to build, a world in which power, oppression, and dehumanization build a kingdom. Now tether that cultural narrative to the inclination of sin and folly, which causes us to use our words to build our own personal kingdoms, and there's a big risk of being unfaithful here. But into that context of the world they're living in and the context of their own hearts, God calls his people to use their words to build instead of destroy, to heal instead of dehumanize, to be a different people and portray a different kind of kingdom where God himself is the king. I like how the late rabbi and theologian, Abraham Heschel, described the biblical use of language. Just three simple, powerful words. He said,

words create worlds. That's a great summary of how the Bible portrays the power of our words. And it's a great reminder as to why the exiled people of God then and today need to consider the power of our words. Through our words, we can live as a counter-community, presenting a different picture of what the world is meant to be like. We can use our words to bless, heal, protect, restore, and beautify.

God is delighted to work through his people, including the use of their words, to create a different kind of world. But the key to all of that is not just in using the right words in some kind of performative way. To have a renewed use of our words, we need to have a restored love in our hearts.

This is one of the reasons why Jesus so clearly connects the words we use with the posture of our hearts. In Luke 645, he reminds us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. In order for our words to create a world reflecting God's kingdom priorities, we need to experience life in the Creator, whose words created the world and whose son, the word made flesh, is recreating all things.

See, in aiming at our words, Proverbs, is really going for our hearts. In the gospel, God takes our hearts from death to life, and he invites us to continue that same trajectory, that same pattern of renewal into every corner of our lives, including our speech. God, your words are so powerful that they created the world. They are so glorious that they created life in us. God, would you humble us to see the power of our words

as people made in your image? Help us speak and hear differently as your people. people. Renew our hearts so that our words bear fruit and create flourishing every time we speak and listen. Let our words be a part of your work in creating a different kind of world. In Jesus' name, amen.