Some things in life are complicated, most aren't. The Bible gives simple and straightforward advice on how to avoid trouble, advice I haven't followed nearly enough.
My residency in Family Medicine began with a week-long orientation. We toured the hospital and clinic, were assigned our desks, given our pagers and completed a two day course in "advanced cardiac life support." All of the interns were nervous as we were going to be primarily responsible for the medical care of real patients for the first time in our lives.
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with nerves and jitters and my way of cracking jokes was not well received. On the third day of orientation I was summoned to the office of the program director for a stern discussion. He was afraid that I was going to embarrass him and the program with my irreverent attitude!
While I was actually very serious about my training (and would go on to be recognized as the Outstanding Resident on graduation), my loquaciousness made others uncomfortable. Had I been wiser I would have worked harder at controlling my tongue.
Looking back I can see that my lack of tongue control has been at the root of the vast majority of my problems in life. I also see that this shouldn't have been difficult to figure out, for the writer of Proverbs made it pretty clear thousands of years ago-
"Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut." Proverbs 10:19
Advice we need to take to heart!
Coming on Friday- "Why I am a Hateful Christian" I don't think I am, and try to be anything but, but to some people the beliefs that have shaped my life are considered to be hateful now. Are you a hateful person? Check back in a few days to find out.
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