Wisdom Is As Wisdom Speaks

Wisdom, I’m learning, is just as much about my mouth as it is about my thinking. I can be wisest among the wise in my thought processes, but if my mouth opens with rashness and quick conclusions, then wisdom did not play itself out in a wise manner. It matters not the wisdom trapped in my mind if it emerges as unwise from my mouth.

Oh, our mouths. Oh, our conversations. Oh, our words. What if we began with wise thoughts and ended with wise words? Proverbs 16:23 tells us that a wise person’s heart will guide his mouth. It begs the question, are we really wise if we cannot control our words?

I learned as a little girl, “Pretty is as pretty does.”

I’m learning as a grown girl, wise is as wise does.

Wise is as wise speaks. Wise will be known by the way wise plays out.

Mark Twain (who is certainly not Jesus, but man, don’t you love him?) once said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”

In deducting from the truth of Scripture, it seems as if Jesus would hold us to a higher version of Twain’s quote and say to us something like this…

Better to remain quiet when you may want to speak. Better to hold your tongue when you want to be heard. Better to restrain your words when uncertain. Better to sit in the quiet with Me and together formulate a wise, thoughtful, and sharpening word . . . Than to open your mouth and negate the wisdom that I have promised to keep pouring into you.

That encouragement preaches to and convicts my erroneous heart. Let us be people whose mouths confirm the wisdom of our minds.

Keep preaching Lord, until you have sanctified not only this wandering heart of mine, but also the mouth that is attached. That mouth often has a mind of its own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Mysti Chustz has been following Jesus since she was six years old.
• She is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. Her most favorite roles are being wife to Philip and mama to Coleman, Mary Lamar, and Clay.
• If one verse was used to describe her life, it would be Philippians 1:6. “Be confident of this, the One who starts the work in you is faithful to complete the work in you.”