To Speak or Not To Speak?

To Speak or Not To Speak?

by::  angie c tipton

act now ministries

9.4.2011

It’s true that we all have the freedom to speak our mind.  The truth of the matter is that we all have the freedom to NOT speak our mind, as well.  In many conversations, I find for myself, that the latter of the two choices is best.  It is not my job to judge others or give advice...advice that is, more than likely, not wanted, especially when someone is just venting.  The definition of vent is to “expel” or “discharge.”  When someone is venting, they are not looking to take in anything, let alone unwanted advice.

When speaking our mind causes us to step out of the boundaries that love has set for us is when speaking our mind may become hurtful to others.  What works for one person may not work for another.  There’s more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak.  If we were all the same, this world would be a very boring place.

My hope is that those who find it necessary to speak their “wisdom” don’t realize the harm and strife that they are possibly causing to those around them.  My fear is that they don’t care about the harm or strife caused by their careless words.  Hoping, believing and praying for the positive for others as well as ourselves, is a good thing.  Love never fails. It’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict us all of our flaws or offenses.  In the words of someone who has a lot of experience in this area (Joyce Meyer)…”You’re not Holy Ghost, Jr.!”

Jesus is THE ultimate answer for any issue that we will ever have need of in this life.  He did not beat around the bush with things that needed to be confronted.  He confronted and moved on.  However, He did not approach everyone in the same way.  In John 8:2-11, a woman who was caught in adultery was brought to Jesus.  Those who brought her wanted to stone her.  Jesus stooped down and began to write in the dust with his finger…virtually ignoring them.  After the accusers continued on for a while, Jesus rose up and said, “Those who are without sin…throw the first stone.” The Bible says that eventually the one’s who heard His words were convicted by their own conscience and left out one by one, leaving Jesus alone with the woman in the midst.  He then spoke to her telling her that He did not condemn her and to “go and sin no more.”  Now Jesus did not point out every flaw that those condemning her had committed.  He did not “get in their faces” and “tell ‘em how it is.”  Rather, He silently stayed back and very likely, prayed for the appropriate response…even while her accusers continued ranting.  And, finally when dealing with the woman, He didn’t go on and on with her about why she was committing adultery because “maybe she had been abused as a child, maybe she had an absentee father, and just maybe she was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places”…and so on and so forth.  He simply told her that He did not condemn her and to go and sin no more.

Now, the woman’s accusers were definitely venting to Jesus in this situation as well as trying to entrap him.  BUT, Jesus used wisdom to handle this situation.  He KNEW that the Truth would set them all free…the accusers and the woman…and He did not have to say much for that to be accomplished.  What an amazing example for us!  Sometimes few words or even silence will handle whatever issue comes up, simply because we leave our hands off of it and let the Holy Spirit do His job.  It is not our job to judge and many times, it’s not our job to give advice.  Of course there are times when we MUST handle situations and give advice.  I’m not suggesting that we should always sit back and be mute.  But, we should use caution and most importantly, wisdom.

I find that I continually need wisdom in many different situations in my life.  And, this one thing I am glad to know when I don’t have the wisdom needed for a particular situation; “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and He will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.” ~ James 1:5. ~  Wisdom…it’s a good thing, and when we find ourselves lacking, all we need to do is ask…especially in “that moment” when the question is not what to say, but to speak or not to speak?

I have to tell you that this devotion has not been written because of any one incident in my life, but rather by trial and error over many years.  I cannot tell you how many years of my life I was “pushed around” verbally when all I really wanted was for someone to listen to me...allow me to vent.  But also, I’ve been on the other side of it…yes, the one doing the “verbal pushing”, so to speak, when someone else just wanted to vent.  It’s true!  And finally, I have witnessed seeing someone “verbally push” another...watching the entire process from the outside…it’s not a pretty sight!

Getting right down to where the rubber meets the road…Jesus came so that we not only would have life, but have it more abundantly. ~ John 10:10 ~ When we accept Him as our Savior, we are no longer our own.  We are His.  He paid the price for us and WE ARE FREE!!  Our freedom is found in Jesus and, at times, that freedom is to NOT do certain things as He leads us, such as, “to speak or not to speak?”