Open your mouth

First of all, Happy Birthday to my dear sister, Erin! May God bring many blessings to you as you reflect on the good years He has given you thus far, and may He grant you many, many more!

As part of a 30 day e-mail devotional, I have been listening to some messages by Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Proverbs 31. As part of those messages, she challenged her listeners to read Proverbs 31 every day for 31 days. I have not been listening to her every day and have not read Proverbs 31 every day, so I'm not quite meeting the challenge, but I have been trying to include Proverbs 31 with my regular reading and have found it to be very edifying.

I know that I'm supposed to really focus on the part about the "worthy woman" (as the heading says in one Bible), but there are other verses that come before it, discussing how a king should behave. I find myself filtering a lot of politics as I read my Bible these days, and I know it is because there is an election coming up. Issues are thrown in our faces and we often can't avoid them, even if we wished to (and I confess I wish I could ignore most of them). I have done a bit of pondering about how King Lemuel's mother's words should have an impact on how I vote, as I do have a voice, albeit small, in politics.

Proverbs 31:8-9
Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

I'm not going to say much, as I am still thinking about what this means. Mute, unfortunate, afflicted and needy - these are the ones we should be defending. The only cause I'm going to apply to this now is abortion. The unborn are mute, yet they also have the right to live. Those in power should be protecting them because they are vulnerable.

Last week Tim Challies wrote a very interesting response to someone's question about Christians imposing their values and morals on society, and abortion was the central issue. It's a worthwhile read: Moral High Ground. Take a look at the comments, as well!

The verse from Proverbs 31 that I am focusing on most in my life right now is verse 26: "She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." Interestingly, the king should open his mouth to defend and the godly woman should open her mouth in wisdom and kind instruction. The verse stands out because it is one area that I know I need to work on. James 3:2 says, "For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well." Jesus says in Matthew 15:18, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." Taming the tongue is critical, because it requires taming our hearts. If our heart is pure, our words and actions will be as well.

What are you opening your mouth to say?