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Topic: Mind Your Words
[DCLM Daily Manna 25 June 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Job 15:1-16
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Key Verse: “Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee” (Job 15:6).
MESSAGE:
Words have the capacity to either build or destroy lives, families or relationships. Job’s friends came with the initial objective of consoling him for all his seemingly inexplicable troubles. But soon, they became part of the problem. Rather than comfort him, they took turns to condemn Job for what they assumed must have been his sinful conducts. He explained his conditions and defended himself to no avail.
Eliphaz alleged that Job’s vain knowledge and lack of fear of God were the reason God did not answer his prayers. He boasted that he and his companions were wiser and some older than even Job’s father. He stripped Job of all claims to righteousness, insisting that no man can be clean before God.
You must not speak like Job’s friends. Do not jump to conclusions easily and assume that you always know why people suffer and invariably, that you alone have the answers to their troubles.
When faced with a challenging situation in the lives of other people, keep your words few. Your presence alone is more than enough comfort. And when you speak, let your words be full of grace and seasoned with salt, so that you may assuage the pain and anguish of spirit of the person that hears you.
Always seek to show concern with your words, not criticism; and to give comfort, not condemnation. Let the person you are speaking to feel better after listening to your words.
Thought For The Day: Find an appropriate word for every occasion.
The Bible In One Year: 1 Kings 13-14
