How About Just Shutting Up

Scripture:
When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is prudent.
Proverbs 10:19

Observation: This section of Proverbs has much to say about ... saying. Verse 11 says the mouth of the righteous produces life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Verse 13 begins saying wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, while verse 14 ends saying the mouth of the fool hastens destruction. Verse 18 warns about lying lips and slander, and verse 20 calls the tongue of the righteous "pure silver."

Throughout these, there is a theme, and it isn't as a simple as 'good people say nice things that encourage, and bad people say mean things and lie'. It seems more like the theme is ... bad people will willingly say whatever they think, and since man has a sinful nature the words they say will be foolish and cruel, therefore wise people are not just less likely to speak foolishly, they are less likely to speak, period.

Application: This observation says a lot about an era in which everyone can say anything to everyone. Literally.

We live in a time of cruel communications that are so bad that we have fights over whether or not third party monitors of communications channels are working properly. Anyone, anywhere, can send a message that could potentially reach everyone, everywhere, and one of our biggest problems in society is ... they do.

Proverbs has a very simple solution to all this. Just shut up. If you want to be kind, don't say anything mean. If you want to appear wise, don't say anything stupid. If you want to become smart, don't participate in forums that are informed by fools. If you want to live in peace, don't engage in argument.

Living a life surrounded by kindness, wisdom, intelligence, and peace seems like something everyone would want. If only they would stop commenting, posting, criticizing, and complaining long enough to have it.

Prayer: Lord, we know social media is a problem. May I have the wisdom not to engage. May I have desire peace so much that I just don't engage in conversations in forums where people stir up strife. May we all find a little more joy in our lives, by doing a little less mindless talking. Amen.