Day 29 The Indiscreet Tongue

Indiscreet - lacking prudence, good judgment or circumspection, careless, foolish, hasty, inconsiderate, unthinking.

Proverbs 2:11 'Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.'

I like the example from the story of Noah that Deborah Pegues begins this chapter with. 'After the great flood that destroyed most of the earth, Noah planted a vineyard. One day he got carried away and drank too much wine. His son Ham discovered him in his tent - drunk and naked. Scripture tells us that Ham "saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside" (Genesis 9:22) Exercising more discretion than Ham, his brothers would not even look on their father, but backed into the tent and covered him with a garment. Their discretion was a sign of their maturity. One who is discreet shows prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior - and always reaps a positive consequence.'
'Have you ever found out something about a leader or other prominent person and could not refrain from telling someone? If God has trusted you enough to reveal someone's nakedness or sin, have you ever considered that you were not to "see" and "tell" but rather to cover that nakedness with discretion and intercession? A leader's punishment is God's business.'
I had a live example last night of an indiscreet tongue. we bought season tickets to our CFL team when we moved to Regina. Sunday night was their first regular season game that Wade, Owen and I attended together.
The row we have, we are surrounded by seemingly good people. A grandma and her grandson who is about Owen's age. A dad and what looks like his 3 daughters, below us an older gentleman and a man I assumed to be his son. Above us was another story. A young man so admittingly drunk that he could not see straight, his friend and another father son duo. All of these 'men' seemed to favour swearing over the rest of the English language and a particular 'f' word especially. They had a total disregard for the family setting. There was no discretion used in front of these 10 year old boys, a total lack of good judgment. It makes me sad when I have to debrief my son after inappropriate things happen that are unneccessary really. We are praying God intervenes into this new sphere of influence that He has blessed us with.
Be discreet now, you never know when God will show someone your nakedness. Hope that wisdom is all over your experience and you are covered.
Speaking the Truth
Proverbs 8:12 I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.'

Haggai 1:5 ' Now this is what the Lord Almighty says "Give careful thoughts to your ways."'

Ephesians 5:15-17 ' Be very careful then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil, therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.'

Excerpted from: 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue by Deborah Smith Pegues (Harvest House Publishers 2005). Autographed copy available from: www.confrontingissues.com