Keep your mouth shut and avoid the drama
“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” I Peter 3:10-12
These wise words of Godly guidance from I Peter Chapter 3 are actually a “Holy Ghost requote” of Psalm 34:12-16, and that in itself speaks volumes about its importance in the lives of believers. Think about it. This concept was so important to the Lord that he chose to have it penned down for human edification twice, both for the people of the Old Covenant and again for those of us living the New!
What’s so special about this particular set of commands? Just this: by following the wisdom of these words one can ensure that they will see many good days here on this Earth, days of peace and of answered prayer!
If I could guarantee you a good day tomorrow, you’d take it wouldn’t you? Of course you would! That’s all most people want: a good day, free from the stress and strain of the world and turmoil and ongoing drama.
Well, God wants us to have not just “good” days but great days! That’s why He gave us the information we need to cooperate with Him in bringing those days to pass for us. That’s why He spoke the words found in Psalm 34 and I Peter 3, not once to humanity, but twice. God desires that all His children have great days, but the truth of the matter is that we must learn to work with Him to receive what He desires in this regard, or maybe better said, we must learn to at least stay out of His way as He’s trying to bring these days to fruition!
So, what do we need to do to cooperate with the Lord in regard to having better days in our future? According to Psalm 34 and I Peter 3 it’s pretty simple: keep our mouths shut and avoid drama! Simple? Yes! Easy? Maybe not so much if your favorite pastime is offering your opinion on the state of everything coming and going and believing you have the solution to everyone else’s problems. However, if you are serious about living the life God desires for you, you’ll consider taking the “hard road” and scaling back the (probably unwanted) advice to any that will listen.
Keeping our noses out of other people’s business is not as valued as it once was, but it is still valued by the Lord and His reward is a good day on the horizon!
Remember the once popular saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all”? That concept isn’t prized in our cancel culture and among the self-appointed watchdogs of secular righteousness, but it is still highly prized by the Lord Jesus. Proverbs 10:19 states, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” Additionally, Proverbs 21:23 relays, “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”
Wow! There’s our answer to so many hard days. They’ve been self-inflicted because we’ve not known when to zip it!
Brothers and sisters, sure, it’s more convenient to blame the devil for the tough times we experience (and I’m not saying he doesn’t have a hand in all the nonsense surrounding us). However, many times we have opened the door for the enemy to walk right through because we have failed to heed the commands of the Lord concerning our mouths. Let’s endeavor to mind our own business and think two or three times before we add our opinions to the stew of drama stirring in and around our lives.
Greg Crum is pastor of Calvary Temple Church in Lovely.