Tongue Control

 

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting …

—from Proverbs 10:32

The words we speak can either heal or hurt. Jay Wickre, writing in the Dubious Musings of a Peculiar Man, ¹ offers these wise words:

A bitter man needs to place his troubles on the front of his tongue so that they taste sweeter.

As an observer of the behavior of various people who have crossed the pathway of my life, that statement rings true to me. Yes, words can either heal or hurt. And, we who speak such words have the power and responsibility to control the effect our words have on others. King Solomon understood this. Notice what he writes in Proverbs 10:32:

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

The natural question arises:

“Does our speech properly reflect our state of righteousness? Or, do we continue to utter inappropriate words at inappropriate times?”

Please let me offer an illustration:

I remember an occasion in a work meeting many years ago. I had asked a question, in frustration, because I couldn’t imagine why the others in the room seemed so unable to grasp the concept the individual was sharing. My question drew a sharp retort from another at the table.

Fifteen minutes later, following a lengthy intervening discussion, during which I remained silent, another person spoke, filling a pause in the discussion. He said:

“I am finally catching up with where Dean was a while back.”

He went on to perfectly explain the concept that the others in the meeting still had not grasped.

I thought about that incident a great deal over the next few days. I realized—and I believe this is a gift from God—that, in certain circumstances regarding very concrete topics, I tend to grasp the concepts much more quickly than many other people, who may well be even smarter than I am. So, I learned from that experience to try to hold myself in check when such circumstances arise.

Sadly, as those who must still interact with me realize, I fail to do what I intend to do—guard my tongue—far more often than I succeed. When it comes to specific tasks or factual discussions, I am ruled by my own impatience.

Now, if the topic had involved human emotions, or social situations, or any of a large number of other topics, I would be the one lagging behind. I am very ignorant when it comes to understanding the nuances of social relationships. Therefore, you can be certain that, in those situations, I will tend to keep more quiet.

As we begin a new day, we do well to check our speech to see if it reflects the righteousness that God has given us through His Son, Jesus. We must guard our tongues, so that we only speak words that are helpful, encouraging, and healing. And, we must purposefully cast aside all words that might hurt others.

 

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1 Wickre, Jay. Dubious Musings of a Peculiar Man. Self-Published, 2011. Please note that in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Best Followers

 

Surely goodness and love will follow me …

—from Psalm 23:6

Have you ever had someone show so much interest in you that they just wouldn’t leave you alone? It wasn’t that they had any evil intent. It was just that they seemed to enjoy your company so much that they would hardly give you a space to breathe.

I am told that in the early stages of many male/female relationships, women often feel that their latest love interest has started to overwhelm them, even suffocate them. The man might have good intentions, wanting to show his devotion and the magnitude of his interest. But, smothering someone and following that one relentlessly, whom you are trying to spark a mutual relationship, almost never works.

On the other hand, there are some qualities in life that we may long to have following us. King David expressed this well at the end of his famous Psalm, specifically Psalm 23:6:

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Having laid out the blessings of a relationship with God in the earlier verses of this Psalm, David brings this song of praise to a conclusion by declaring the benefit he derives from everything else he talks about in this Psalm 23.

As we launch off on another new day, let’s pray and ask God to grant us these two “followers” in our lives. Let’s welcome God’s gift of goodness and love. Then, let’s share those gifts with the people who cross the pathway of our lives.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Table of Blessing

 

You prepare a table before me …

—from Psalm 23:5

Psalm 23 is possibly the most well-known passage of Scripture. It contains a lovely cadence that unfolds a beautiful pastoral image of the Good Shepherd caring for His beloved sheep. Among the many extraordinary images of this Psalm are these words, found in Psalm 23:5:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Even though we may be surrounded by the powers of darkness that seek to destroy us, God always prepares a feast of blessing for us. He anoints us with a protective covering, that consists of the blood of His precious one and only Son, Jesus. He grants us the divine indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit. Thus, God guards us and guides us, as we obediently follow His leading each day of our lives.

As we begin another new day, we should remain aware that the enemies who would confound us have no power over us because Jesus has conquered sin, death, and Satan. We can go forth this day into the world, with full confidence that God has laid a table of blessing for us. In fact, the blessings from God flow into our lives continually.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Desires Granted

 

What the wicked dreads will overtake him …:

—from Proverbs 10:24

The guest speaker at the convention of adult training experts caused a hush to fall over the room, as he began with this question:

“How does a person get what he or she really wants in life?”

The guest speaker paused for several long seconds. Then, he continued:

“You just take it!”

A few people began to applaud. Soon, the entire room full of people had risen to their feet to give the guest speaker a standing ovation. But sadly, the speaker was wrong—very wrong.

The only true way to get what one wants in life does not come from a preemptive taking. It comes from living a life worthy of receiving from God what one desires. And, only through faith in God, and obedient devotion to Him, can any human hope to live a worthy life and receive the gifts God longs to give. Notice what King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 10:24:

What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

Righteousness precedes the granting of desires. Obedience to God’s will and to His written Word gives a believer the opportunity to receive from God the desires of that person’s heart.

As we begin another new day, let’s determine to follow the pathway of obedience, knowing that it leads to us receiving the deepest desires of our hearts. When we live totally in sync with God’s perfect will, His desires for us become our desires. And, that’s the best possible place for us to be in this life.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Price of Belonging

 

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself …”

—from Luke 9:23

Every organization worth belonging to has its own dues structure. It costs something in time or treasure to belong to anything or anyone truly worthwhile. The question each person who belongs must ask himself or herself:

“Is the price of belonging worth the benefits I receive?”

Belonging to God through His Son, Jesus, has a price, as well. Notice what Jesus said, as recorded in Luke 9:23:

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

To deny one’s self means to set aside an individual’s selfish human will and yield to God’s perfect, divine will. We are only able to do this through the enablement of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to set aside our natural human will and follow the pathway that God lays out before us through His perfect will and through His written Word.

As we begin another new day, we need to renew our intention to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. As we do so, we have the opportunity to be more like Him. We can speak as He would speak, act as He would act, and do what He would do. By becoming more Christ-like, we have the opportunity of truly serving the Kingdom of God in the most effective way possible.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

No Longer Conformed

 

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world …

—from Romans 12:2

Each time another day begins, we have a new opportunity to choose to live, more and more, like Jesus would have us live. We can either decide to purposely lay aside our devotion to Christ. Or, we can decide to do our very best to speak, think, and act as Jesus would speak, think, and act.

By choosing to conform our lives to the pattern given to us in the life of Jesus, we give up our natural human bent toward tightly molding our lives to the world of sin and darkness. Following the Light of Christ dispels the hold that sin has over us. We walk in the Light, as Jesus is in the Light. We put darkness behind us, and we move confidently into a new way of living. Notice the words the Apostle Paul wrote in the familiar passage of Scripture found in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Each day, God waits patiently to renew our minds. He longs to renew our minds. He wants to renew our minds. So, at the beginning of this new day, we should welcome His guidance and protection. And, we should invite God to renew our minds. We can allow the mind of Jesus to become our way of speaking, thinking, and acting. And, that is the very best way to live.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Obedience = Love

 

Whoever has my commands and obeys them …

—from John 14:21

I have written often on this blog regarding the only requirement that God has given those He has called to Himself. Even though He pours out His mercy, grace, and abiding love on us, and has redeemed us through the shed blood of His one and only Son, Jesus, God only asks one thing of us: obedience. God wants us to obey His will and His written Word. Jesus confirmed this when He told His disciples these words, as found recorded in John 14:21:

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

In a climate of genuine obedience, love flows freely back to God from those of us He has called to Himself. Before the foundation of the earth, God chose us to belong to Him and to His Kingdom. In due season, God sent His Holy Spirit to reveal to us what His Son, Jesus, has done for us, by paying the penalty for our sins. Once the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to apprehend that truth, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in our hearts and minds.

This new reality for us grants us the privilege of showing God our love through our obedience to His written Word and to His perfect, divine will. We learn to bend our selfish human wills to His perfect will. In so doing, we show God our love for Him. We also experience the benefits of belonging to Him.

As we begin a new day, we need to constantly remain aware of God’s divine Presence in our lives. And, we need to constantly remain aware of the joy we bring to God each time we obediently follow His will, follow His written Word, and follow the pathway He has laid out before us.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}