Proverbs 12: 13-14
The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble (verse 13).
Integrity is highly underrated in our culture. It takes just a few altered sentences to make a better sale, a more interesting story, or a cleaner alibi. However, the stretching or altering of the truth is wickedness from the lips. This verse says that the wicked are trapped, translated from the Hebrew word meaning “snared,” by their own words.
This gives the image of a hunter who has laid a trap along the usual path of a wild animal. He has studied the creature, has observed its normal routine, and knows its habits. He has therefore set a snare in the animal’s normal path that he knows it will walk right into. Why? Because that’s where it goes daily.
The same can be said of those who do not fight to have God-honoring, integrity-filled speech. The more routine wicked speech becomes, the more the enemy knows just how to set a trap. Just as the animal in the woods is being studied, so is the one who regularly makes a habit of stretching the truth, spreading gossip, and causing dissention with their speech. It’s only a matter of time until the wicked person stumbles into the snare that is waiting for them.
The godly, however, are protected. They escape this snare because when confronted, they don’t have to worry about what they said or how much someone knows of their speech. Their conscious is clear, their integrity intact.
Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards (verse 14).
If you think guarding your speech is easy, you are far stronger than I. It takes genuine work to keep speech clean, full of integrity, and God-honoring. However, it brings benefits. Think of people in your life who you know wouldn’t say something negative about another person. Mayne they’re not as fun to be around when you want to feed your flesh and gossip, but you know that those people are safe-harbors. Their word can be trusted at face-value and others feel loved and cared for by them. People know that their success comes from genuine, hard work, rather than cutting corners.
The work that it takes to keep speech full of integrity is worth it.
Photography: @jacobnnorris