Proverbs 18:2

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

What of the one who does take pleasure in understanding, what does that person sound like?

Does it depend on the position of the speaker? We might give more weight to the words of a doctor of theology even if his style of speech is filled with pride in achievement. We would try to be gracious hearers and refrain from negative emotions. Not all doctors have a pleasant bedside manner.

Do we realize how we sound to others? Do we take into account the listener who has our attention? Do we know them well enough to temper our speech to allow important messages to be received with good intentions?

I never cared for the firebrand speeches of the passionate pastor. Neither did I take one seriously that sounded like milk toast. Their words softened the message and took all the flavor out of the message. Most of us are not pastors or teachers but our manner of speech is important when we are attempting to witness the gospel to the lost.

Good intentions mean nothing to the offended. Even our tender speech can be received as offensive. We are offering our opinion to the lost. The gospel is the truth but we do not know the ground upon which it falls. We are asked to spread the gospel liberally but we do not have to throw it violently at the ground as if velocity will penetrate hardened soil.

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

We do not know what strangers define as harsh words. That changes nearly daily in this society and in a foreign land it is even more difficult to control.

It is difficult to be received in good faith if our faith does not temper our speech.

James 3

Taming the Tongue

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

During that recent encounter the book of James was mentioned. I confessed that my whole attitude towards James has changed over the years. I found his words to be very legalistic when I was going through a rebellious time in my walk with Christ.

My attitude changed as I matured and it is important to recognize that we all go through this as we grow in Christ. Here once again as I search the scripture coming from a different place in my walk, with a change of attitude I can see things now that I have overlooked in the past.

I allowed my attitude about James to blind me to what James was going through at the time of his writing. I totally missed that James called himself a teacher. Not only did I miss that but failed to understand the strictness incurred by him because he felt the weight of responsibility in that calling to teach others.

James expressed himself in ways that reflected that weight of responsibility which I misinterpreted as being legalistic. I was wrong because I judged James without knowing him.

Now as I read James I have to reassess my thoughts given this new understanding of the author. This is my way of thinking. Do others go through similar problems when reading the word of God?

What has happened in my past influenced my attitude and it took a long time to understand the depth of those influences.

Psalm 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

As we return to His word with new found attitudes it takes on a deeper meaning and we discover why it is so important to revisit scriptures we haven’t visited for years.

The scriptures haven’t changed, we have.