Proverbs 21:23
“He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself from calamity.”
Today’s thoughts are for all of us who have ever thought, “I wish I hadn’t said that.”
Solomon doesn’t soften his words: an unguarded mouth leads to calamity, real trouble, self-inflicted and avoidable. Notice the verb he chooses. “Guards.” It is active, like a sentry standing watch at a gate, not a passive personality trait some people simply have and others don’t. And that restraint doesn’t begin at the lips. It begins in the heart, since our mouths only speak the overflow of what’s already inside us (Matthew 12:34).
Much of the pain we carry in relationships and reputation traces back not to what others did, but to what we said before we’d thought it through. Yet this proverb isn’t only a warning, it’s a promise. The one who guards their words is kept, protected, spared from trouble they’ll never even see coming.
So before your next sentence, pause and ask: is this worth saying, and is this the way to say it?
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.
Prayer: Lord, guard my mouth, and guard my heart.