Golden Apples

February 28, 2005

A beautiful passage in Proverbs says: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)

Words are powerful. They have the power to bless or curse. The Bible teaches us our words should be spoken carefully. One of the Ten Commandments deals with truth-telling, and Jesus warned that we will all one day give an account of “every idle word” we speak.

Have you ever wished your mouth had a backspace key? I have. Being blunt, or rude, is rarely, if ever, proper speech for Christians.

President Calvin Coolidge was known for his terse speech. A woman bet her friend she could get Coolidge to speak to her, which was something he was reluctant to do. "Hello, Mr. President, I bet my friend that I could get you to say three words to me." "You lose," Coolidge replied dryly, and walked away.

“You (we) lose” and run the risk of destroying years of good work, not to mention our Christian witness, with words “un-fitly spoken.”

James knew this well. In his epistle, he said the tongue, like the rudder of a ship or bridle in a horse mouth, has great power that we must harness, lest it become a raging fire.

Last night, a few miles up the road from San Diego, the movie industry awarded the Oscars. How about creating a new award, The Golden Apple, for folks who master their tongues? Personally, I would rather have the Golden Apple than an Oscar.

“Keep your words soft and tender, because tomorrow, you may have to eat them.” (Author unknown)