Speak No Evil or Lies

 Our tongues can get us into all kinds of trouble. It is much better not to speak at all than to say the wrong thing. However, our flesh tempts us in many ways to say something harmful or deceitful when we believe we will benefit from saying those words. Like James says, only a very spiritually mature person can bridle his or her tongue.

Job had made that commitment to God. (Job 27:3,4) He promised God and his friends that as long as he was alive and had breath from God, his lips would speak no evil, and his tongue would speak no lies. That shows all of us the maturity and wisdom of Job, which would be good for all of us to have.

When our heart is not right with the Lord, all kinds of evil things go through our minds. It is so easy to speak of them by telling a dirty joke or by describing something immoral. Of course, it is also evil when we speak about someone to put them down or to share something in a way to make others think less of them. Speaking evil is anything that harms the other person.

Lying is difficult to eliminate, too. We are tempted to hedge on the truth, so that we will look better, or we will get out of trouble. That is never right. As believers, we are to speak the truth, because our Lord Jesus is the Truth. We dishonor Him by speaking any lies. Therefore, I pray we will all make the same commitment that Job made.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 28-30.