A Long Life....can depend on how well you know how to keep your mouth shut.

Sometimes its easy to pass over the fact that we may be in a bad situation that stems from having a "big mouth". Now, I realize that is not always the case and I certainly am not advocating or judging others who may be going through a "tough time of it" because of something they said....let me make that perfectly clear!

 Yet, with that being said, there is something to watching what comes our of our mouths...our words.
 In Proverbs 13:3, it goes something like this: " Be careful with your CHOICE of words that come from your very lips...the words you CHOOSE can aid you in keeping your life "afloat" and even add years to you as well. If you are totally careless as to what you say to and/or about others...it can ruin you...as in totally done for."

 Being careful or diligent has a picture of a guard house that allows or deny things from passing through. Why?...in order to protect and save the lives of others. In fact, it is SOOOO important Proverbs 4:23 says it something like this: " Above ALL ELSE ( meaning everything that concerns you...good or bad), guard your heart. The reason you need to give this your utmost attention is: 1) everything you think 2) everything you say, and 3) everything you do...starts right there...in your own heart."

 Solomon claims it is our own personal responsibility to do so...to guard our hearts and to watch what we say. It kind of negates excuses like: " I couldn't help it...it just slipped out". Yea...right. Who do you think you are fooling?

 The Gospel of Saint Matthew kind of makes things on this subject "pure and simple". In Matthew 12:35, it goes: "If there is good living inside you, then good things will begin to appear coming out of your very heart. But, if you harbor and allow evil to have its place in you, then evil things will come out of your heart as well."
 Then, in Matthew 15:11, it reads something like this: " Look, take this one to heart, listen closely to what I am about to tell you: It's not what you put IN your mouth that makes you bad...or even unclean, you need to "flip it" and see it this way: it is the words that come OUT of your mouth that hurts you...why?....because the words you speak come from your very heart!"

One reason I think our words are so important is that what we say can actually bring "Life" or it can bring "Death" to others. In other words, we can bring comfort or we can bring more pain...depending on our own attitude and what we choose to do.
 In Psalm 41:3, it reads like this (yes, I got a little"Gleaning" goin' with this): " Give honor and respect to those who might be "down on their luck". Show some "care to them", whether in word or in your actions,...just like you would when you help the poor. Be "on top of it", choose to assist where you can, rescue if you can, and help anyway you can, to others who might be suffering or in some troubled mess. Don't "kick 'em while they are down", open your heart and show some comfort (for His sake)...make them understand how valuable they are to society. And remember, when YOU have those times of adversity, or you are perhaps sick and in bed, it is the Lord Himself who always remembers how you gave mercy to others...without expecting anything in return; how you chose to give kindness to another...when many would not give them "the time of day"; or when you spoke gentle words to someone who was hurting on the inside, while others said "well, he finally got what was coming to him". For it is at that time in your own life the Lord will be your personal nurse, and restore you back to health."