When we talk about friends, those who sat with Job often come to mind. At first, they seemed like good friends – they did take the time to sit with him in his misery, without speaking, offering neither advice nor help of any kind. But then they opened their mouths. It’s too bad they didn’t keep quiet or just walk away and leave poor Job to suffer alone. Silence would have been better than what they subjected him to. 

I came across an article by Dietrich Bonhoeffer titled The Ministry of Holding One’s Tongue.¹ Most interesting to me was this statement: ‘He who holds his tongue in check controls both mind and body (James 3:2ff). Thus, it must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him…’. How many of us actually do this? Don’t most people say whatever pops into their minds, without regard as to whether or not those thoughts should be kept to themselves? 

Then to top it off, he called holding one’s tongue a ministry. What a difference it would make in all our lives if we thought of keeping quiet as a ministry! There are certainly times when we can bless others with our words, but perhaps we should consider how we can bless people with our silence as well. We might even bless ourselves, if we remember the words of James: 

‘And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself” (James 3:6 NLT).

Let’s all try giving our tongues a rest and commit Proverbs 10:19 to memory: ‘Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.’ 

 ¹ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community, 2009, pp. 112 – 113.

First published on 5 November 2024, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com a personal blog which is not sponsored by Grace Communion International.

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