What Goes in Must Come Out (Proverbs 21:23)

The tongue and mouth of a person can be such a wicked thing. But we have total control over everything we say.

"He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself from troubles." Proverbs 21:23, Amplified

As Christin men and women we need to be ever more diligent to guard our tongues and mouths. How are we to do this. The easiest way is of course to read your Bible and pray everyday. The next step is to filter what we place into our eyes and ears. The less vile things that we allow is, the less vile they will be coming out.

The Mind, Tongue and Heart (Proverbs 17:20)

Appearances are one thing, but it is the inside of the person that counts. We may be able to fool the world by how we look, but the Lord knows the heart of man.

"He who has a wayward and crooked mind finds no good, and he who has a willful and contrary tongue will fall into calamity." Proverbs 17:20, Amplified

There are two people being spoken of here in this verse. First the one with the wayward and crooked heart. He finds no good because his mind is perverse. He has filled his mind with so much evil that this is all that he can think about. He finds no good because he looks for no good. Then there is the man with the willful and contrary tongue. This is the man that has allowed for his tongue to control his life. "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:8, NKJV) There is a difference between taming and subduing. There are man times that I want to say something, but my tongue is subdued. Imagine the man who does not have Christ; his tongue lashing out at everyone.

Is there hope for either one? Of course. You and I both could easily have fit into the role of either before we came to Christ. We made a choice, however, to subdue the body and surrender to Christ.