People who don't get along with others are interested only with themselves; they will disagree with what everyone else knows is right.  A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not; all he wants to do is show how smart he is.  Sin and shame go together.  Lose your honor and you will get scorn in its place.  A person's words can be a source of wisdom, deep as the ocean, fresh as a flowing stream. When a fool starts an argument, he is asking for a beating.  When a fool speaks, he is ruining himself; he gets caught in the trap of his own words.  Gossip is so tasty-how we love to swallow it.  A lazy person is as bad as someone who is destructive.  The Lord is like a strong tower, where the righteous can go and be safe.  Rich people, however, imagine that their wealth protects them like high, strong walls around a city.  One is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin.  Listen before you answer.  If you don't, you are being stupid and insulting.  Your will to live can sustain you when you are sick. But if you lose it, your last hope is gone.  You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say.  What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept consequences of your words.  Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you.  Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers. 

People who don't get along with others are interested only in themselves.  Sometimes when we disagree with someone it is because we are stuck on our own way of thinking about or doing something.  Sometimes we are the biggest obstacle in our way.  Usually if we can take ourselves out of the situation we can see it so much clearer.  But when we allow self to stand in the way, we are all we see.  We have to try to look at things objectively, we must seek understanding instead of worrying about being right.  The spoken word is so powerful it can either ruin us or make us wiser.  We must live with what we say, aint no taking it back.  Part of living with it is accepting responsibility for our words.  Part of taking responsibility is accepting the ramifications of our words.  The word can preserve life and destroy it.  This happens in so many ways.  We destroy when we lie, cheat, when we don't do as God has instructed us to.  We preserve life when we preach the word; when we uplift someone; when we show genuine love for others.  What we say has a direct and indirect affect on others and ourselves.  We must make sure that the words we say, speak for us.  Because we will have to answer for them.  So lets stop tearing each other down and instead build each other up.  Let's not be so quick to talk about people or what we don't know; let's not be so quick to start rumors; let's not be so quick to speak; let's not be so negative; let's not be rude.  Let's be supportive; let's be polite; let's be thoughtful; let's be considerate; let's be truthful; let's be like Christ.  Sometimes it is hard to do this the way the world is today.  But the good thing is that when we get fed up and tired and it seems that we can't take it or do it anymore, we can.  All we have to do is go to God, he is our strength.  He will recharge us and keep us safe.  As soon as we realize this and humble ourselves we can be respected as a child of God.  How do we do this?  Easy, be slow to speak; listen before talking; and be willing to learn.  If we look forward to our life; to the blessings we have yet to receive; to the victories that are already ours but have yet to come; to the souls that will be saved by the ministry God is doing through us, we will have a desire for life.  If we do this we will want to live regardless of what we are going through because we know that God has us and will take care of everything.  However when we doubt him and don't have faith then all our hope is gone. Let's stop giving birth to death with our words. Let's accentuate life by our words.  Isn't it funny how mighty our tongue is? I guess the question is, how do we really use it?  I am not talking about when we're with other church folks.  I am not talking about when we are on the phone with our pastor or talking to our mothers.  I am talking about day in, day out.  Do the words that come out our mouth represent the person that we claim to be? If not we can change it in an instant, stop breeding death and give life through our words.

God is so good!  He gave the main point before I even read this chapter.  I wrote the two sentences at the top as a thought for the say before knowing that the lesson was on the power of our tongue.  God speaks in so many ways!