Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
I read somewhere that most women speak an average of 25,000 to 50,000 words a day and that most men speak an average of 12,000 to 15,000 words a day. That’s a lot of words. I don’t know how they figure that out. I often wonder whose job it is to count somebody’s words all day, but the truth is, we talk a lot. We live in a world filled with words. Some folks, once they start talking, have a hard time stopping. That certainly includes preachers. In our culture we value verbal skills. We equate good verbal skills with intelligence. Sometimes we talk a lot because we are trying to impress people. Sometimes we talk because we are scared of the silence. A great deal of our messes in life are caused by the careless use of words and too much talking. The truth is the more we talk the more prone we are to say things we should not say. The more we talk the more prone we are to say things we will regret, the more prone we are to hurtful gossiping. Perhaps that is why God said “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” My experience is that we talk our way into trouble far more than we talk our way out of trouble. Will Durant once said, “Nothing is often a good thing to do and almost always a clever thing to say.” You never have to explain what you don’t say. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. Wise is the person who develops that good sense of timing.
– Tim Thompson, Senior Pastor
but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
I read somewhere that most women speak an average of 25,000 to 50,000 words a day and that most men speak an average of 12,000 to 15,000 words a day. That’s a lot of words. I don’t know how they figure that out. I often wonder whose job it is to count somebody’s words all day, but the truth is, we talk a lot. We live in a world filled with words. Some folks, once they start talking, have a hard time stopping. That certainly includes preachers. In our culture we value verbal skills. We equate good verbal skills with intelligence. Sometimes we talk a lot because we are trying to impress people. Sometimes we talk because we are scared of the silence. A great deal of our messes in life are caused by the careless use of words and too much talking. The truth is the more we talk the more prone we are to say things we should not say. The more we talk the more prone we are to say things we will regret, the more prone we are to hurtful gossiping. Perhaps that is why God said “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” My experience is that we talk our way into trouble far more than we talk our way out of trouble. Will Durant once said, “Nothing is often a good thing to do and almost always a clever thing to say.” You never have to explain what you don’t say. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. Wise is the person who develops that good sense of timing.
– Tim Thompson, Senior Pastor