Tuesday
Have you ever had someone give you bad advice? Psalm 12 speaks to this topic.
Remember a couple of days ago a posted about having a trustworthy friend that will give you good advice, well, you also have to be very cautious that your friend is giving good advice. In yesterday’s reading, Amnon’s uncle, Jonadab (who was a shrewd man) gave some very bad advice. Sometimes we listen to people who tell us what we want to hear and not what is for our best interest. If the advice they are giving you is contrary to what the Bible says, don’t believe it. “Everyone lies to his neighbor,” the psalmist says, “their flattering lips speak with deception.” Dare I say it, this sounds just like the politicians and the news pundits who tell us what we want to hear but not what is in our best interest. David is pretty harsh with the liars in this psalm. But truly deceitful words and idle speech and gossip can hurt more than we can ever possible gauge. James tells us the power of the tongue in chapter 3 of his letter in the New Testament.
I think it is good for all of us to be very careful with our speech and what we say. There is an acronym that I like to use. It is THINK. T- is it truthful? H- is it helpful? I – is it inspiring? N – is it necessary? K – is it kind? If you can’t answer yes to all those things then maybe you should keep silent.
Blessings
PK