“Have You Heard The Latest About…….?”

Texts:  Proverbs 26:17-28, 25:20, 16:28

READ Verses 17–28    The ability to know what to say, and perhaps more importantly, what not to say, is called TACTFULNESS.  Solomon reminds us that if we want to allow God to “tame our tongue” then we must learn to know what is appropriate or considerate when talking to others and put our self in the other person’s shoes before we speak.  Here’s one way to understand the quality of TACTFULNESS:  it is how we apply the “Golden Rule” to our speech!

Let’s review these guidelines.  

1.     1. LEARN WHEN TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS   A dog’s ears are sensitive, and even a gentle dog will bite if its ears are unexpectedly yanked, so we should “let sleeping dogs lie” if we don’t want to unnecessarily run the risk of getting hurt!    Solomon’s first rule for taming our tongue. (17)

2.  BE CONSIDERATE OF THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS.   Solomon strongly emphasizes that this kind of “joking” can be destructive. (18-19)

3. NEVER, EVER REPEAT GOSSIP (20-22)