Even A Fool Is Considered Wise If He Stays Quiet

Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

I think about this Bible passage quite often, because my mouth has often landed me into trouble. When I was younger I had a bad habit of blurting out the first thought that came into my mind, which was very immature and foolish of me. When I was still married, in my twenties, a man on the phone told me that he was divorced. I blurted out, “You're a lucky man!” He replied, “I don't know how 'lucky' I am for being divorced.” In hindsight I am ashamed of what I said to him. What a horrible and stupid thing to say! To this day I have no idea why I said what I did, which was insensitive and cruel (even though I didn't intend for my words to be).

My own wife tragically divorced me in 2006, abandoning her marriage vows and me. My life was devastated. I cannot express in words the inexplicable emotional trauma, feeling of betrayal and loss, and nightmare that I endured since my wife divorced me in 2006. In a thousand years, I would NEVER again tell someone that they are “lucky” to be divorced. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 10:19, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” As a good general rule, we should be quiet.

I could share many more times in my past, when I opened my mouth to later regret it. Matthew 12:34, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” We read in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The Apostle James in his Epistle tells us that “For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:” (James 3:7). The reason why the human tongue cannot be tamed is because neither can the wicked human heart be tamed.

Jesus taught that from the human heart proceeds EVIL THOUGHTS...

Mark 7:20-23, “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Since our sinful heart cannot be tamed, and we speak from the abundance in our heart, we would be wise to refrain our lips from speaking too much. I love to talk, since I live alone and don't have a companion to conversate with. So, I need to be careful when I am in public at church or wherever, not to talk too much. The inspired Scripture tells us that even a fool will be deemed a wise person, if they'll just keep their mouth shut. Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” Lord help me to SAY LESS, SIT LESS and SIN LESS!