My dear readers,

Maintaining our Mouths!

Proverbs 13:3: “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.”

Have you been faulted for what you say and write? Others may say or write all kinds of falsehood and lies against you; as long as you hold your tongue or pen and say or write nothing, your testimony for Christ remains intact. The moment you respond, everything changes. The ability to control our tongues as children of God is a constant struggle.

With numerous websites and the internet at our fingertips, the commandment to guard our mouths (including spoken and written words) is of greater importance today than ever before. What is at stake when we as believers have loose lips? Our testimony, the glory of God and the holy Name of Christ are at risk!

God left us on earth after salvation in the most dangerous place in the universe. The god of this world has blinded the minds of all who reject the gospel of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 4:4). The systems of the world and everything in it, its entertainment, education and governance, are controlled by the god of this world. They all “do his bidding” in blinding minds and, at the same time, seduce, confuse, threaten and destroy the work of God and God’s faithful servants. The target of the devil’s attack is the holy Name of Christ that every child of God bears everywhere he goes. Let us protect the Name of Christ by guarding our tongues.

Proverbs 13:3 teaches us that we must maintain the guarding once we begin to guard it. If we do not, then destruction awaits.

Maintain to protect life – “He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life” means the one who maintains his mouth puts a hedge of thorns around his life. Maintaining one’s mouth physically means brushing one’s teeth regularly and ensuring one does not have tooth decay and bad breath! In the spiritual application, the first thing to maintain is the believer’s heart and mind, for all that comes out of his mouth stems from within. The heart and mind must be kept clean from sinful motives and filthy thoughts.

The fragrant heart possesses the love of God, which is the only motive that all believers have. Any other form of love, such as the love of mammon or even family, is a sinful replacement for God’s love. God’s love enables the believer to love all people and things correctly. To maintain his mouth, he must love God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind. All that comes out of his mouth will be from God. This is only possible when his mind is filled with God’s Word. His thoughts control his desires. His desires determine where he goes and what he says. When his thoughts are God’s thoughts, i.e. based on the Word of God, his desires will be godly, and so will his words. His mouth is cleansed by the sanctifying of the Word of God since it originates from a mind filled with God’s truth and a heart controlled by God’s love.

With this God-centred maintenance of his mouth, he places a protective hedge of thorns around his life so that evil and wickedness cannot penetrate and destroy his life of holy witness for Christ that he may have spent decades building. Wisdom tells him that a careless or foolish word can instantly ruin everything. In today’s internet world, once it goes viral, it is easier to gather and stuff back into the pillow all the feathers that a cyclone has scattered across the wide, open field than to put the careless word back into the mouth.

All believers can maintain their mouths to protect their life of witness for Christ. God shed His love into the hearts of all believers when Christ saved them. At the same time, God blessed them with Christ’s mind, enabling them to understand the Bible. They have no excuse not to maintain their mouths and protect their holy life for Christ’s sake, unless they deliberately choose not to! If it is the latter, then destruction awaits. 

Careless words destroy life – “But he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction” is a frightful alternative. The Hebrew verb “to open wide” occurs only twice in the Old Testament. The other occurrence is in Ezekiel 16:25. The verb means “to become licentious”. A person who does not consciously maintain his mouth to speak godly words will have lips that disregard all verbal restraints. The Bible uses “lips” because the unrestrained words flow out of his lips carelessly every time he opens his mouth. There is no careful consideration to filter in his mind and heart what he will say before he says them.

He does not ask himself whether what he is about to say will build up the spiritual life of the hearer; for example, sharing something about someone. Whatever has been shared with him will be shared with others without discretion.

Below are some of the characteristics of the one who opens wide his lips.

• He has light ears and licentious lips – People with light ears believe everything they hear and will share with others mindlessly. When someone shares with him something “juicy” about another person, he does not do due diligence to verify if it is true. He will accuse and pass judgment on the “victim”. Such a person will probably ruin lives, especially his own, because people will be wary of his wide lips. If he is a person of influence, he is easily manipulated to do the dirty work of others. He practises favouritism with the ones whom he usually listens to without verification;

• He is a rumour monger – He likes to spread “bad things” about others, but not the good. That is his sinful nature. He attends spiritual activities such as Bible Studies or discussion groups in the name of “sharing”. He numbs his conscience by telling himself that he is only “sharing” with others to “help others to open their blinded eyes” to a person’s “faults”. By this self-deception, he thinks all is well with his soul;

• He serves the evil one – Whether he knows he is doing the devil's work or not, the fact is that he is. The devil’s agenda has always been to sow discord among God’s people. What he is doing is an abomination before God. Proverbs 6:16-19: “¹⁶ These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹ A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

The one with wide lips will not escape destruction from God. He has time to repent if he experiences God’s punishment while still alive. But if he experiences no judgment and continues to open wide his lips, then the destruction of God after death is something that no one should ever wish on another.

Will you maintain your mouth to build a hedge around your life to protect it, for Jesus’ sake?