Good day again Ladies...Let' s begin our study in prayer:
"Dear heavenly Father, I seek Your face this morning as today we discuss discernment in speech and decisions. Help us, Father, to remember who You are: holy above all. And to remember who we are: unholy and unjust. I pray that You will convict us today of any sin in our lives that we may come before You to claim it. I also pray for each lady reading this study that she will be forever changed through the reading of Your word.
I seek forgiveness of my sins this day. I know my tongue has displeased You, Lord. I pray that You will wash me clean of my transgressions. I pray that You will create in me a clean pure heart ready to serve You. Please restrain my tongue and guard my speech that I may not cause harm to those I love. "
In Jesus name.....Amen.
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Today's passage: Prov. 31:26 "She opens her mouth with wisdom; and on her tongue is the law of kindness."
This lesson was especially hard for me as it deals with discernment in speech and also in kindness. As I have confessed here before, my mouth has gotten me in alot of trouble in the past and it is a weak spot for me now. But I know that this study is necessary in a Christian woman's walk if she wants to become a Virtuous Woman.
So, get your Bible and get a comfortable chair because we have a lot of scripture to read today!
Please read:
Acts 18:24-28
How did Aquila and Priscilla help Apollos?
How did Apollos respond to their instruction and correction?
2 Tim 3:16
What is the purpose of scripture?
Prov 10:8
This verse is translated as: "The wise heart will receive commands, but the foolish of lips will be ruined."
Prov. 9:7-9
To speak wisdom takes discernment. As we have read here before, the Lord gives us discernment through His word.
I had a bad problem with gossip and attitude when I worked for the Superior Court. I heard so much gossip that I had trouble keeping it to myself. I almost lost some friendships as a result. But the Lord worked on me through His word. The more involved I was in Bible study, the more convicted I became about gossiping.
One time, I truly prayed for the Lord to help me not to gossip and He answered my prayer. My boss, the Judge's secretary, had a friend who would come into our office to tell about her problems. She saw me sitting nearby at my desk and asked if I could be trusted with the information she was about to say. My boss assured her that I could be trusted.
Hearing that made me feel so good and I vowed that I wouldn't tell anyone the information I heard that day. To this day, over 7 yrs. later, I can honestly say I told no one what I had heard. My heart was so happy that there were people out there who could trust me with their secrets. That was only because of the Lord and it took many years for it to happen.
As a result, both women are still my friends today even though I left the office 7 yrs. ago. Praise God.
Please read:
Prov 4:5-7
Gossip is a horrible sin in that it ruins lives. Words are like nails into wood: they can be taken out, but the holes remain.
Words can be forgiven, but the scars are deep and those remain forever. I grew up in a house where I was told I was dumb almost everyday. I was told I could do nothing right. When I said I wanted to do something, I was told, "you can't do that" regularly. And I was told to shut up often enough.
If I confronted my parents about this, they would say they were "just kidding around." But words hurt and they remain in a child's mind. It took many years of being in God's word for me to realize I wasn't dumb and that I could do something if I prayed about it and sought the Lord.
I cannot tell you how great it felt to graduate from college Summa Cum Laude: with honors. I finally felt like I was smart.
1 Kings 3:1-15
What did Solomon ask God for?
How did God respond to his request?
Can we ask God for wisdom as well?
James 1:1-7
What happens when we doubt the Lord will answer our request?
Wisdom is given from God and He rewards our faith in Him doesn't He?
James 1:17
I know I am not telling you anything you do not already know, but it is important to be reminded of these things regularly for our growth in the Lord.
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Life Application
Words matter.
God desires for us to get wisdom....to ask Him for wisdom. I try and ask Him everyday because I know it would be so easy for me to hurt my son with words as I was hurt when I was a little girl his age. I praise God that my son has never heard his parents tell him he is "dumb" or "stupid" at all in his life. God does answer our prayers and gives us wisdom liberally.
Please read:
Judges 13:21-25
Notice how the wife understood how God worked. Samson's parents were honoring to God. Yet, what happened to Samson?
Judges 16:1-31
Samson's love for the wrong women caused his fall, but the Lord used it to destroy the Philistines. Too bad Samson didn't seek wisdom.
I had told you about King Edward of England who took the throne at age 9. I always remember that story because at age 9 he sought to be a wise ruler. He wanted to rule with wisdom and so he sought wisdom in books. Amazing at age 9 a boy would know that wisdom is important.
Please read:
1 Cor 1:20-24
According to verse 24, who is the wisdom of God?
Col 2:1-3
1 Cor 3:18-21
Wisdom is not found in books written by men.
Many people I know are against higher education and see it as a waste of time. Not me. I love education! I should since I teach college.
But I know what it takes to finish college. It takes a great deal of discipline to get up in the morning and head off to school with all your assignments completed or projects completed. It takes discipline to pay attention to a 3 hour lecture after working all day and get a good grade on a exam. I know, I had to do all this at age 35-40. It gets harder the older you get!
I shared a classroom with many a young mother who had to bring her baby into the classroom because she did not have money for a babysitter.
I admire students who can work, handle kids, and still get good grades in college. That takes discipline.
But the Lord wants us not to lean on that education because, as with all things of man, it is finite or temporay. That is why I have learned to lean on God's Word which is eternal and never changes. There is comfort in knowing God's word will never change.
Please read:
2 Cor 1:12
Prov 12:1
Pride keeps us from receiving correction and therefore we lose knowledge when we do not receive correction. Wisdom from God helps us know when to receive that correction in humiliation.
Ecc. 9:16-18
Let's pray that we open our mouths with wisdom and on our tongues are the laws of kindess.
Col 4:5-6
The Virtuous Wife speaks with kindess. So should we!
Prov 15:28
We should study how to answer.
2 Cor 6:3-10
We should show kindness and sincere love.
Titus 3:4-7
Gal 5:22
2 Pet 1:7
We know that this kindness comes through the Holy Spirit. I ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit daily so I can speak kindness.
Tell a younger woman you know today about who is wisdom, where we get wisdom, and how we can speak in kindness to one another. You can save her from alot of pain and anguish caused by her tongue. She'll thank you for it!
Until next time.........
"The biblical word for slanderer comes from a Greek word diabolos and it means malicious gossip, slanderer, or false accuser. It points to bringing charges against another, and usually with hostile intent.
But here's the really ugly side of the word:
34 times in the New Testament as a title for Satan
One time regarding Judas
One time to describe the behavior of hardened unbelievers in the end times.
Two other times, in reference to women, that can literally be translated "she-devil".
Not very good company, is it? I mean, slandering, gossiping women who are called to godliness and to holiness and to godly behavior...lumped in with Satan, Judas, and hardened unbelievers? As James exclaimed elsewhere, "These things ought not to be so" (James 3:10)!
...Instead, my sister who aspires to godliness, God calls us to His higher standard. He calls us to grow up in this matter of the mouth, to mature speech, to strive for godly speech."
-Elizabeth George (A Woman's High Calling, 2001, pp.41-42)
Blessings,
Ruth
2 comments:
You know, this is one area in my life that I know I completely miss the mark. Most people see me as "quiet" but it's because I have (and sometimes still do) used my words cynically and sarcastically. I've been going about it all wrong by trying to "cover" it with quietness, but really I need to "put-on" kindness in my speech. This was a very humbling study Ruth.
~Susan
I know what you mean. It was a hard lesson to write!
My family is very critical of each other and other people.
I remember leaving church as a kid and listening to my mom be critical of other women on the ride home. I learned to be critical too and I need to stop.
Prayer is the only way to do it, Susan. Confess it and then ask God to help you....He will!
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