Read Proverbs Chapter 13.
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\u201cThe one who guards his mouth protects his life; the who who opens his lips invites his own ruin.\u201d Proverbs 13:3
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In my family, I am known as \u201cMouth of the South\u201d. I have been accused of not being able to keep a secret. I am sure there is truth in this statement. I like to get things out in the open. As we learned yesterday, I learned at a young age nothing stays hidden long, so why waste time trying to hide it? But not everything needs to be said, not everything needs to be talked about.
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I love what \u201cguard\u201d means in its original form: maintaining things entrusted to them, especially keeping the truths of God in both actions and mind. This is the filter God wants us to use. Is what we\u2019re saying and doing in line with God\u2019s truth? These are the questions we should ask before we speak. And if you don\u2019t, you invite ruin into your life.
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I gained the reputation of \u201cMouth of the South\u201d because I loved to tell on my brothers. If they did something wrong, I couldn\u2019t wait to spread the word. Until I realized the ruin it was bringing into my life, it ruined my relationship with my brothers. Would you want to be around someone who told all of your faults? After all, we all have them. I don\u2019t want to be around someone who is going to tell mine, and they are plenty. I love my brothers, so much. They are amazing men, all of them. Why would I want anyone to think less of them? My words and actions affected how others thought of them.
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Gratefully, we grow up. \u00a0God doesn\u2019t let us stay where we are. \u00a0What really changed my life was Paul\u2019s letter to the Thessalonians when he told them to \u201cencourage one another and build each other up\u201d (1 Thess. 5:11). \u00a0As I studied this verse and began to apply it to my life, all of my relationships began to improve. It has become an easy filter to use. I simply ask myself, does this build up or tear down? \u00a0If it builds up, I say it. If it tears down, I don\u2019t. I\u2019d love to say I\u2019ve mastered this, but that would be a lie. I can say, I\u2019ve come a long way from where I used to be in the department of keeping my mouth shut.
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Are you ruining a relationship with your life because you\u2019re tearing down instead of building up? Especially with those closest to us, they are the ones who usually reap the benefits of our words, whether positive or negative. Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church, says it like this, \u201cI want to be respected most by those who know me best.\u201d That is a hard goal to achieve if your mouth is causing ruin. But if if you determine to build up instead of tear down, you\u2019ll find those who know you best respect you most.
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Read Proverbs Chapter 13. \u201cThe one who guards his mouth protects his life; the who who opens his lips invites his own ruin.\u201d Proverbs 13:3 In my family, I am known as \u201cMouth of the South\u201d. I have been accused of not being able to keep a secret. I am sure there is truth in… Continue reading Build Up<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions\/608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}