“A false witness
shall perish:
but the man that
hears
speaks constantly.”
PROVERBS 21:28
An amplified
paraphrase of this verse might read, “The influence of liars will eventually
die because their lies cannot last for long in the light of truth; but those
who listen - more than they speak - will have long lasting impact and their
words will live onward, far past their lifetime.”
Contemplating on this
statement reminds us that our having two ears and one mouth is an indication of
how we should live; pointing to our need to listen twice as often as we speak. Living like this could help ensure that our
words really matter.
Being misinformed or
dispensing false information is a sure way to not be taken seriously or closely
listened to for very long. This is a
primary reason why hearing - more than we say - is so vitally important; including
our fact checking what we hear.
Such issues
remind me of the original Saturday Night Live skits when one of the characters -
played by Gilda Radner - would rant and rave about some off-topic issue that
she had misunderstood or knew nothing about.
When her error would finally be pointed out, all Gilda would say was, “Oh! Sorry.
Never mind.”
Similarly, some
people often say that they “…only open their mouth to change feet.” This is an expression used when embarrassed by
one’s own words or when speaking incorrectly out of turn. The remedy for this problem
is not in wearing mint flavored socks but rather in simply learning to listen
more than we speak; so that when we do speak, our words will carry weight.
Other folks yield to
the temptation to stretch the truth in order to quickly gain influence or
interest; only to have the reverse occur later.
This is a sad lesson. Exaggeration
is not the way to bring value to our words but accuracy is. Therefore, being
able to hear attentively can ultimately helps us speak better and make our
words be memorable.
As a teaching
pastor, I must often double check myself and what I hear because of the
importance of this issue. In these
skeptical days of world history, where smart-phones are used everywhere to
fact-check what we say, there has never been a time where this issue is more
valid.
The era of
getting away with spouting falsehoods should be over. After all, who wants to be voicing “fake
news”?
PROVERBS 12:19 says, “The
lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a
moment.”
Father God,
What great wisdom you
have for us. Help us to grow by listening to You and others with genuine
attention and not just be waiting for our turn to talk. Remind us to hush and not rush
into filling space with our voices.
May we not forget that learning is what life is about and being
remembered is more important than being heard.
