Walking with the Wise #153: The Right Words

“A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
but a faithful envoy brings healing.
—Proverbs 13:17

We are temperamental creatures who can react negatively whenever we perceive an insult. But God wants us to make sure that we are behaving rightly in all situations. It is important that we know how to act and react whenever tempers flare around us. Or, as it has been said, “Cooler heads will prevail.” Today’s passage speaks about a wicked messenger. In our modern world of smart phones, texting, and streaming communication, messengers aren’t nearly as important as they once were. In the ancient world, a messenger was a bit like an ambassador whose purpose was to be an extension of the king—a representative. Therefore his responsibility of maintaining peace, communicating clearly, and correcting or assuaging insults, perceived or otherwise, was crucial. To speak to another people for the kingdom would mean that he had the potential of aggravating tension, escalating war, or cultivating peace, and fostering the posterity of the entire kingdom.

Words and actions go together like a baseball and glove. Our responsibility before God is to measure our words, the motives of our heart, and to make sure that we are being faithful ambassadors for our leaders. The one who walks with the wise will seek to create peace and harmony rather than discord and destruction. Our hearts must continually be weighed under every situation in which we find ourselves so that God’s will might be made known through us—not our sinful desires.

Are you a wicked messenger who seeks to bring down others? Or are you trying to be discerning and wise, so that healing, not harm, might be the fruit of your labor? Be true to the Lord, sift the heart for impure motives, and be the person that God desires you to be—for His glory and your joy. Amen.