Keep Your Words Sweet

You 've heard the old saying that you can catch more flies with sugar than you can with vinegar, right?  Well, if you don't know, it's true.


Ladies, we need to keep our words sweet or we might just eat them. I don't know about you but eating my words has never tasted good the second time around when they have come back to me.


We need to know just when to keep our mouths shut. Silence. Can you hear the crickets? Neither can I in this society. Women today think that it is their given right to voice what ever is on their minds but Proverbs 29:11 tells us that "a fool uttereth all his mind".


It is one of the hardest things that I do, and as a woman who grew up in a society where meek and quiet was not the norm it is a very hard thing to do.


The bible is and should be the final authority and as such let's look at a few things that we should know about keeping our words sweet and knowing when we should keep our mouth shut.


We should keep our mouth shut:
     1.  in the heat of anger.  (He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly...Proverbs 14:17)
     2.  when we don't have all the facts.  (He that answereth a matter before
          he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Proverbs 18:13)
     3.  when you haven't verified the story.  (Seest thou a man that is hasty in his
          words? there is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 29:20)
     4.  when you are tempted to talk about sin. (Fools make a mock
          at sin...Proverbs 14:9)
     5.  if you are ashamed of your words later. (The words of a talebearer are as
          wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Proverbs 18:8)
     6.  if your words would convey a wrong impression. (He that hath
          knowledge spareth his words...Proverbs 17:27)
     7.  if you want to appear as wise. (Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is
          counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
          Proverbs 17:28)
     8.  if the matter is none of your business.  (The heart knoweth his own
          bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. Proverbs 14:10)
     9.  when you are tempted to tell an outright lie. (Put away from thee a
          forward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Proverbs 4:24)
    10.  if your words would destroy a friendship. (A froward man soweth strife:
           and a whisperer separateth chief friends. Proverbs 16:28)
    11.  when your words would damage someone's reputation. (An ungodly
           man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire. Proverbs 16:27)
    12.  if you may have to eat your words later. (Death and life are in the power
           of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21)
    13.  if you have already said it more than once, it is nagging. (A foolish son
           is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual
           dropping. Proverbs 19:13)
    14.  when it is time to listen. (A WISE son heareth his father's instruction:
           but a scorner heareth not rebuke. Proverbs 13:1)
    15.  when you are supposed to be working instead. (In all labour there is
           profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Proverbs 14:23)


I know with two sons under the age of eight right now, I must in all things show myself to be a pattern of good works which includes sound speech with grace. (In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Titus 2:7, 8 and Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6).


I want my sons to marry women who are sweet, not loud and stubborn and who love them. How can I help them choose one who will be sweet? By being sweet in word and in deed. I don't want them to marry women who speak their mind all the time. There is a time and a place to.


Do I get all of these all of the time? I wish I could say yes but the truthful answer is, No. I do work on it and my sons see a difference when we go out and about and will sometimes mention the difference that they see in women.


Ladies, we can season meat with salt and even preserve it for a while with salt. We can also sweeten our tea with sugar or honey and I love a glass of sweet tea now and again. But our words last longer than the seasoned meat or the sweetened tea; so shouldn't we take more time to think about what we are going to say rather than just blurting it out because it was in our heart, on our mind and sliding off of our tongue?


A woman who does not have sweet words is just like the women who marched after the Presidential Inauguration and the Day Without Women in the workforce recently. They are loud and stubborn and their feet abide not in their house. Those kind of women teach young girls to do just as they, speaking their mind showing all the world how little they have in them.


Keep your words sweet or you might just have to eat them!


It is well with my soul. Is it well with yours?