The Gift or Curse of Gab? (Part 1 of 2)

Learn when to talk, and when to stop talking.  It is better to say little than to say too much.

September 27, 2020

"In the multitude of words there wanted not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise."

Proverbs 10:19

Part 1

“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin.”
For those who love to talk, there is a great danger of sinning.  In fact, the more we talk, the greater the opportunity for sinning with our speech.

“It is impossible to speak much, and yet speak nothing but truth, and injure no man’s character in the meanwhile”[1] (Clarke).

Solomon wrote more than once about the “multitude of words…”

“The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.  A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?” (Ecclesiastes 10:13-14).

The foolish person is “full of words!”  His/her talk is somewhere between “foolishness” and “madness.”  This is not a new problem for our generation alone.  For thousands of years, talking too much has been a topic of philosopher’s thought.

“As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers”[2] (Plato).

Well stated, Mr. Plato.  I fear that this habit is seen as a character trait that we tease and laugh about, not the sin issue God sees.

“Much speech involves risk of sin; hence the wisdom of restraining the tongue…”[3] (JFB).

“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain” (James 1:26).

The man or woman who gushes words without end has a mouth problem and has no control over the issues in his/her life.  Their testimony is shot, vain, empty.

We need to learn to think before we speak.  And sometimes we just need to think instead of talking.

“The man who has the power of talking without thinking will soon cease to think; his mental faculties fall into disuse under the constant pressure of…[wordiness].”[4]

Believers, let’s get into the habit of thinking before speaking and speaking under the Holy Spirit’s influence.  We need His control in every area of our lives.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

Come back tomorrow, and let’s talk about the wisdom of silence.

 

Quote:  “Words are like spices.  Too many are worse than too few”[5] (Aiken).

 

 

 

[1] Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] Plato’s quote is from The Biblical Illustrator, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Jamison, Fausset, and Brown.  Jamison-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] The Biblical Illustrator, ibid.
[5] Joan Aiken’s quote Downloaded: Friday, September 25, 2020.  From: https://www.quotemaster.org/Too+many+words.  Aiken is an English children’s author (1924-2004).